The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has expressed concern about the leaking of confidential information for some of its examiners.
A document that was leaked online showed names, schools, subjects, telephone numbers and home and email addresses of WAEC examiners for 2020.
The leak has led to allegations of possible collusion, with some also suggesting the results of the West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) could be compromised.
The public relations officer for WAEC, Agnes Tei Cudjoe, has dispelled claims that the leaked list will compromise the marking of this year’s WASSCE.
Mrs Tei Cudjoe said the leaking of the document containing details of examiners should not have happened in the first place.
She described the list as “confidential”, adding that it takes WAEC years to put together its list of examiners.
“When the examination board meets to approve lists of examiners for a number of years, we don’t ever let anybody take that document out because it is a confidential document,” she said.
Investigation ongoing
However, the Examinations Council says it has initiated investigations into the circulation of a yet-to-be-finalised version of an examiners’ list for the WASSCE 2020 on social media.
Speaking to Nana Yaa Mensah on The Asaase Breakfast Show, Tei Cudjoe said: “Management has started investigations into the matter. We want to tell all stakeholders to rest assured that this does not mean people or the marking process is going to be compromised or anything like that.”
She said: “We have rolled out measures to deal with illegal activities and ensure fairness to all candidates.”
In an earlier statement, WAEC described the development as unfortunate and disturbing, adding that it has reported the matter to the cybercrime department of the Ghana Police Service for action to be taken.
WAEC assured the public of fairness in its marking procedures and apologised to all examiners whose contact details were circulated on social media.
“The Council wishes to reiterate its commitment to safeguarding the integrity and credibility of its examinations and certificates respectively,” the statement said.
Legalised cheating
Meanwhile, the executive director of the Childs Right International, Bright Appiah, has blamed the WAEC for chaos associated with the 2020 examinations.
He said the difficulties are happening because WAEC never prevented exam malpractices from happening over the years.
“What the children are exhibiting, it is just the surface issues that we are dealing with, because we have not gone into the substance of the matter – the history of WAEC itself. In the history of WAEC, they have never prevented any students from cheating in the examination,” Appiah said.
“What they do is basically when they suspect that you cheat then they will cancel your paper. So, they don’t even solve the issue at the entrance of the whole examination concept,” he said.
He added: “You also need to understand how WAEC system operates so that you can put some of these things in the right context. So I, for one, feel that this issue that is at hand and what we are seeing is a collective effort to legitimise cheating in examinations.
“We have to go beyond the students and put all the stakeholders together and make them understand this is what we want for our children. If we don’t do that we will talk about it today and I am sure next year we will come back the same,” Appiah said.
Cancel leaked WASSCE papers
Meanwhile, the Minority in Parliament has called for the cancellation of WASSCE papers that have been leaked.
A statement signed by the Minority spokesman for education, Clement Apaak, called for the individuals behind the leaks to be sanctioned.
“The Minority in Ghana’s Parliament call on the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to act swiftly in cancelling leaked West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) papers,” the statement from the Minority said.
“As a key function, WAEC is expected to ensure fairness in, and integrity of, the examinations it conducts. This does not appear to be the case in the ongoing WASSCE examinations.”
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