Candidates Cheating in 2023 WASSCE Exposed by WAEC

Candidates cheating in 2023 WASSCE exposed by WAEC in an effort to name and shame such students however, schools engaged in the act have not been left out.

Schools and Candidates Cheating in 2023 WASSCE Exposed

The West African Examination Council(WAEC) has exposed and revealed the names of schools whose candidates were caught cheating in the ongoing WASSCE.

In WAEC’s recent press statement, it revealed that this year’s examination malpractices seem overwhelming as compared to the previous years.

Quite a number of the candidates have been caught with prepared notes, textbooks, and pages torn from their textbooks with the intention of using them to their advantage in the examination hall

Also, some unscrupulous invigilators use their mobile phones to take snapshots of the question papers right after the examination commences and these are forwarded to the various social media channels. According to WAEC, it tracked some of these snapshots to their sources.

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Social Studies 1 was tracked to Lawrence SHS, Sunyani where the
teacher who circulated the post has been arrested. Biology 2 was tracked to Mountain High SHS, Agona Ashanti. Elective Mathematics 2 was tracked to Adu Gyamfi SHS, Agona Ashanti.

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Several candidates have been caught with mobile phones on them in the examination halls. During the Government paper, eighty-six mobile phones were seized from candidates at the Otoo Memorial SHS, Bibiani. Some candidates have also been caught with
smartwatches.

Candidates Cheating in 2023 WASSCE – How Schools Are Breading Illegality

According to WAEC, candidates cheating in the 2023 WASSCE have the support of their schools.  It indicated that have collected between GH¢500 and GH¢1,000 from students to be used to pay for their cheating in the 2023 West Africa Senior Certificate Exam. This was revealed by the Head of Public Affairs at WAEC, John Kapi at a press conference in Accra.

There was an impersonation at Only Believe SHS, Kukurantumi where a national service person attempted to write the Government paper for one of the candidates but he ran out of luck as he was apprehended by our staff and handed over to the police.

At the same centre, two other suspected impersonators absconded. One impersonator and his accomplice a teacher, were arrested at Christian IPS, Kukurantumi.

At Ideal College, Lapaz campus, there was an attempt to insert scripts of seven absentee candidates into the script envelopes. It took the vigilance of our personnel at the centre to avert this anomaly. The supervisor has been relieved of his duties and investigations are ongoing.

Candidates cheating in 2023 WASSCE have failed themselves and the government after all the investments the government has made into their education through the Free SHS policy.

The WAEC itself needs to sit up and blame itself for some of these happenings because, if its officials do not leak questions to candidates such questions will not be in the public domain several hours before the examination or during the examination.

Many of the candidates arrested might have had access to the 2023 WASSCE questions and answers hours before the exam started or might have been furnished with the answers to the questions through their Mobile devices during the examination.

Examination leakages always have a dent in the credibility of the examining body and the results of students who sit for the exam.

Candidates Cheating in 2023 WASSCE Exposed need to be named and shamed however, WAEC is yet to do that, and the schools involved have not been made public officially by WAEC.

Steps to deal with the 2023 WASSCE for school candidates

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The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has taken a number of steps to deal with the 2023 WASSCE for school candidates, including:

• Using a variety of security measures. These measures include the use of CCTV cameras, metal detectors, and frisking of candidates. WAEC is also working with the police and other security agencies to ensure the safety of the examination.
• Encouraging candidates to report any suspicious activity to the authorities. WAEC has set up a hotline for candidates to report any suspicious activity.

WAEC has stated that it is committed to ensuring the fairness and integrity of the 2023 WASSCE for school candidates however, there are still leakages.

The measures that it has taken are designed to protect the security of the examination and to ensure that all candidates have an equal opportunity to succeed but the protection and the security of the examination have been breached.

Steps WAEC has taken

• Providing training to its staff on test security. This training will help staff to identify and prevent cheating and other irregularities.
• Working with schools to ensure that they are aware of the rules and regulations of the examination. This will help to create a culture of compliance within the schools.
• Monitoring the conduct of the examination closely. WAEC will have a team of observers in place to monitor the conduct of the examination and to report any irregularities.

WAEC is confident that the measures that it has taken will ensure the fairness and integrity of the 2023 WASSCE for school candidates.