WAEC to review WASSCE, BECE malpractice penalty

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) says it will in due course review its regulations governing the conduct of both national and international examinations to end cases of WASSCE and BECE malpractice recorded annually.

Speaking to the Daily Graphic newspaper, the Chairman of the Council said the current regulations on examination malpractice are “too lenient” hence the need to be reviewed to safeguard the integrity of the WAEC examinations.

“Some of the rules are too lenient; when someone is barred for three years for cheating, the person can return to write. We can increase the number of years to make students determine whether it is worth the risk,” Mr Essuman said.

The Examinations Council official made these comments during his visit to some Senior High Schools (SHSs) serving as examination centres for the ongoing WASSCE for School Candidates in the Greater Accra Region on Wednesday.

Among the Senior High Schools, Prof Essuman visited were the Wesley Grammar Senior High School (SHS), the St Margaret Mary SHS and the Ebenezer SHS, where candidates from other schools were also writing the examination.

Commending candidates writing WASSCE, he described the examination processes at the centres as satisfactory, saying “everything is going on smoothly, even though we have heard reports of cheating in some schools.”

Advising parents, guardians and teachers to desist from purchasing questions for the final year students, the WAEC Professor said “we are building individuals who must demonstrate the ability to ensure the integrity of this country,”

“So we have to take issues such as copying or cheating in the examination hall and parents going the extra length to purchase questions for their children, most of which are not even true, very seriously,” he told the Daily newspaper.

The 2021 edition of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for School which commenced on Monday, August 16, 2021, is expected to end Friday, October 8, 2021, at the various exam centres nationwide.

A total of four 446,321 prospective candidates representing 221,437 males and 234,884 females from 965 schools i.e 651 public schools and 314 private schools participated in the international examination administered at 763 centres.