Prez calls for commitment against exam malpractice

The President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, has called on leaders in the sub-region to renew their commitment to the fight against examination malpractices.

He said examination malpractice was not only immoral and illegal, but undermined the education system and prevented honest students from progressing.

President  Mahama made the call when he opened the 64th Annual Council Meeting of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) in Accra yesterday.

The Annual Meeting

The meeting is an annual event rotated among member countries to review the activities and operations of the Council and also deliberate on action plans presented by its committees and national offices.

The meeting also enables Council members to take decisions to ensure the successful execution of WAEC’s mandate in the year ahead.

Challenges of exams malpractice

President Mahama said examination malpractice continued to challenge the works of the Council and it would erode the confidence of the public in the council’s examinations and undermine the credibility of the Council’s certificates.

He said examination leaks remained the greatest threat to the sustenance of the Council’s work and, therefore, urged it to be proactive in adopting innovative ways of dealing with the practice.

Collaborative effort

President Mahama called on all stakeholders, parents, school administrators and teachers to support the council in fighting examination malpractice, which he described as “a looming canker”.

He further called on parents, heads of schools, teachers and the general public, “to inculcate the right moral values in their wards.”  

He recalled the cancellation of the 2015 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) results of some pupils and the traumatising effect it had on the candidates and urged all to help protect and preserve the integrity of educational assessment in the sub-region.

Excellence Award

The event was also used to award the three outstanding 2015 West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) candidates who topped among the member countries.

The award, The WAEC Excellence Award, is given to the overall best three candidates in the WASSCE.

The candidates, all Ghanaians female students from the Wesley Girls’ High School, are the Overall Winner, Miss Jessica Ayeley Quaye, the first runner-up, Miss Ruth Ewura-Ama Awadzi, and the second runner-up, Miss Danielle Amo-Mensah.

Good education system

The Minister of Education, Professor Naana Opoku-Agyemang, who commended the award winners, said the performance of the candidates was an indication that the country had a good education system.

She commended government for allocating over 30 per cent of the national budget to education, explaining that it showed government’s commitment to education and urged all stakeholders to help justify the huge investment.

Relocation of WAEC headquarters

The Chairperson of WAEC, Dr D. Evelyn S. Kandakai, was confident that the government of Ghana would facilitate the relocation of the headquarters from its present location to its own site at Okponglo before the second quarter of this year.

She announced that the scourge of examination fraud was being tackled head on by the Council with support from other stakeholders in education.