Curbing exam malpractice: 2022 BECE to have more serialised questions
The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) will serialise more questions for this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
The move, which is aimed at ensuring that candidates do independent work and avoid collusion, is part of measures aimed at curbing examination malpractices.
The Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, disclosed this when he visited the Head Office of the Graphic Communications Group Limited in Accra recently.
With the serialisation, candidates in the same examination hall receive the same question but with different question numbers. It also means that different versions of the same examination paper could be set to make it difficult for students to cheat.
He said the serialisation, which was introduced in the 2021 BECE, would be intensified this year and advised candidates to study hard so they could do independent work in the examination hall.
On the change in the examination calendar from November last year to October this year, Dr Adutwum said it was part of a gradual process by the ministry to restore the commencement of the academic year to September and the BECE to the month of June as was done previously.
Last year, BECE school candidates sat for the exam in November, but this year’s exam will be written from Monday, October 17, 2022 to Friday, October 21, 2022.
Before the outbreak of the COVID-19 and the subsequent closure of schools, the BECE for school candidates was written in June and results released by the end of August. First-year senior high school students report to school latest by the first week of October.
However, the school timetable changed due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, per the 2022 BECE timetable of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) made available to the Junior Graphic, Social Studies and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) would be written on October 17, 2022, while Mathematics and Basic Design and Technology (BDT) come off on Tuesday, October 18, 2022.
English Language and Religious and Moral Education will also be written on Wednesday, October 19, 2022, with Integrated Science and French taking place on Thursday, October 20, 2022. French will be written on the last day of the BECE.
“Both papers for each subject are to be taken at one sitting without break,” it said.
Regarding the difference in time on question paper and timetable, the timetable indicated, “Where the duration indicated on the question paper differs from that on the timetable, the one on the question paper should be followed.” it added.
WAEC is yet to come out with the total number of candidates for the examination.
A total of 572,167 candidates made up of 287,730 males and 284,437 females wrote the examination.
Out of that number, 61 had visual impairment and 321 were identified with hearing impairment.
In addition, 86 candidates had special assessment needs due to other conditions.