WAEC to hire invigilators over teachers arrest for BECE malpractice
The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) after several teachers were arrested for involvement in examination malpractice in the 2024 Basic Education Certificate Examinations will hire its own invigilators to supervise the examinations it conducts.
A spokesman for the not-for-profit-making organization, John Kapi, disclosed this when speaking to the media on the arrest of the Ghana Education Service (GES) teacher’s task to oversee the administration of the national examination.
Describing examination malpractice as wrong, the Head of Public Affairs of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) said such practice does not help the Council assess the final year students’ potential properly.
Ended for the majority of the candidates on Friday, July 12, 2024, a media report says about 33 examination officials have been arrested for various infractions this academic year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
The WAEC spokesman in an interview with Ghana News Agency said out of the 33 picked up, 19 were teachers who were supervisors and invigilators adding that three of those picked up had nothing to do with the examination.
He said those picked up for breaching the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) regulations were being processed for courts.
Asked what measures are the organization putting in place to curb malpractice, John Kapi said going forward, WAEC would put in more stringent measures to weed out invigilators and supervisors with bad behaviours and attitudes.
A total of 569,095 candidates representing 282,648 males and 286,447 females from 19,506 private and public Junior High Schools sat for the BECE for School which commenced on Monday, July 8 and ended on Monday, July 15, 2024.
Regarding BECE for Private Candidates, the West African Examinations Council in a statement sighted by Thisterm.com said about 1,366 candidates, comprising 735 males and 631 females are expected to participate in the examination.
Meanwhile, Africa Education Watch citing international best practices has called on the WAEC not to use teachers with the Ghana Education Service as invigilators in external examinations due to the potential for conflicting interests.
“Some invigilators played a role in exam malpractices. The international best practice provides that teachers should not be used as invigilators in external exams due to the potential for conflicting interests,” the Education Watch noted.
The Director of EduWatch, Kofi Asare further urged the Ministry of Education and CID to prioritize criminal investigations and prosecution of suspected criminals in the exam irregularities value chain to make that business a risky one.
He has also petitioned the Management of the Ghana Education Service (GES) to reinforce the ban on the use of mobile phones by students in Senior High Schools (SHSs) to curb malpractices in this year’s WASSCE for school exams.