WAEC put 2 teachers before Court over BECE questions screenshot

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has put two teachers before an Accra Circuit Court for taking screenshots of the Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE) Information Communication and French Language papers.

The teachers, Jephtern Kwame Nkrumah and James Kodia have been charged with conspiracy to commit a crime and two counts of illegal possession of 2020 BECE examination papers (ICT practical questions and French language solved questions).

Jephtern Kwame Nkrumah is a teacher at Nii Kojo Ababio Basic School, Accra, and Kodia is a French and Information Communication and Technology (ICT) tutor at Mamprobi Sempe 1 Basic School, Accra.

The complainant and Security Coordinator at WAEC, Lieutenant Colonel Rexford Adu (rtd) told the court that on September 16, 2020, during the September 2020 BECE, he intercepted a snapshot of 2020 BECE, ICT, and French language examination questions over WhatsApp.

The Security Coordinator said he assigned one Alex Doku, an intelligence agent attached to the non-profit-making organization to monitor the situation and identify schools that would indulge in any examination malpractice in Accra.

Doku who visited the Evangelical Presbyterian School in Mamprobi, Accra after scrutiny of Nkrumah’s mobile phone, discovered a snapshot of answered ICT BECE questions from the morning as well as ongoing French Language examination questions.

They were arrested, and during investigations, Jephtern Kwame Nkrumah a teacher at Nii Kojo Ababio Basic School confessed to instructing Kodia, an ICT tutor to answer the national examination questions for him.

Despite the two teachers being caught red-handed by the Examinations Council officials at Evangelical Presbyterian School in Mamprobi, Accra, they have pleaded not guilty before the court presided over by Afia Owusua Appiah.

The court, which described the offences as misdemeanours, admitted them to bail in the sum of GH¢50,000 each, to be supported by one surety each, who must be within the court’s jurisdiction. The court further ordered the accused to report to the Police every fortnight.

According to a Ghana News Agency (GNA) report, the court has also ordered prosecution, led by Chief Inspector Ebenezer Teye Akuffo, to file disclosures within three weeks, and adjourned the case to May 20, 2024.