The West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) has announced that individuals arrested for infractions during the ongoing Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) are being processed for court. According to WAEC, over nine individuals have been arrested so far, including teachers and invigilators, for various examination malpractices.
Before the examination began, WAEC held briefing sessions with District Directors of Education and Supervisors to emphasize the new rules governing the examination, including a ban on bringing mobile phones to examination centers.
Despite this warning, some supervisors and invigilators chose to ignore the rules and were caught with mobile phones, leading to their arrest by the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) and local agents recruited by WAEC.
At the Save our Souls Educational Centre in Bekwai, three teachers were arrested for attempting to assist candidates, while two invigilators were apprehended at the Jinijini Senior High School Centre for taking snapshots of the English Language question papers and posting them on a WhatsApp platform.
Additionally, an invigilator at Nkoranza Senior High School was arrested with a mobile phone containing answers to the Religious and Moral Education questions, while a teacher at Chemu Senior High School in Tema was caught taking pictures of the question papers and posting them on a platform.
Other arrests were made at Liberty Hills School centre, Jachie Pramso SHS centre, and Santoe Basic School centre, where teachers from DESVY International School were found solving Science questions on a school bus for transmission to their students in the examination hall.
WAEC has reported all the arrested individuals to the police and they are being processed for court, serving as a deterrent to others who may attempt to engage in examination malpractices. The Council’s actions demonstrate its commitment to ensuring the integrity and fairness of the examination process, and its determination to prevent any form of cheating or malpractice.
By taking swift and decisive action against those who flout the rules, WAEC aims to maintain the credibility and validity of the BECE results, and to ensure that all candidates have an equal opportunity to succeed.
