Wesley Girls: Do you also Indulge in Exam Malpractices?

In a sarcastic response to a recent comment by former President John Mahama on exam malpractices, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has asked students at Cape Coast’s Wesley Girls if they were truly engaging in malpractices in collaboration with the government, as was alleged.

President Akufo-Addo’s query comes after former President John Dramani Mahama said that Ghanaian students’ recent good WASSCE results were not a real indication of their abilities, but were obtained through examination malpractices.

According to the former President, who is also the opposition National Democratic Congress’s (NDC) 2024 candidate, some invigilators collaborated with teachers to help students cheat on the exam.

For him, exam malpractices jeopardises the quality and integrity of education, explaining that “you certify these children saying they are of this standard, either the BECE or the SSCE, and that child will use that certificate, go abroad to a school, and they will find out that your qualification is not up to the standard you say it is.”

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The former President stated that aiding pupils to cheat in exams will have a significant impact on Ghana, saying, “In many places, children are allowed to cheat. You go someplace, and the teachers conspire with the pupils to cheat. “The effect will be seen later.”

Mr Mahama’s statement comes after the Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, declared that the most recent WASSCE results are the best since 2015.

However, in response to Mr Mahama’s charges, President Akufo-Addo, who was speaking at the 187th address and prize-giving day of Wesley Girls High School in Cape Coast, described the allegations as terrible remarks intended to make a political point. He found it unfortunate that such a statement came from a former President of Ghana.

He stated that former President Mahama had no reason to doubt the integrity of Ghanaian WASSCE results, pointing out that the exceptional WASSCE results from Ghanaian students were the outcome of improved quality and access to education in the country.

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President Akufo-Addo then asked Wesley Girls’ High School students if they cheated in WASSCE.

Students of Wesley Girls High School; Wey Gey “Hey girls, do you cheat on exams?” The students responded with a thundering nay to President Akufo-Addo’s question.