GES asked to dismiss teachers guilty of WASSCE fraud

Africa Education Watch following the ongoing International examination has petitioned the Ghana Education Service to dismiss teachers who double as invigilators for the WASSCE should they be involved in examination malpractice.

The Executive Director of the Education Think Tank in a post sighted by AcademicWeek said the usual suspension metered to invigilators who engage in examination fraud is not enough to curb cases of malpractice in WASSCE.

“We have some highly motivated groups of teachers who simply won’t give up exam fraud because of the business case. I urge the Ghana Education Service to dismiss any teacher found to be involved in examination fraud/malpractice.

Suspension does not deter enough. Dismissal or Removal from the Service in accordance with 4.3 (IV) (V) of the Code of Conduct serves a better demotivation, considering the profitability of this multi-million cedi business,” Kofi stated.

According to the Director of the Africa Education Watch (EduWatch), the inertia of the Ghana Police Service (GPS) to prosecute Senior High School (SHS) teachers found guilty of examination malpractice is a worrying situation.

“The weakest link, for now, is the prosecution inertia by the Ghana Police Service. Almost a year after the numerous petitions and arrests, we are yet to see a single prosecution commence for 2021 WASSCE,” the EduWatch staff noted.

Meanwhile, he has also petitioned the management of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) not to use government Senor High School teachers as invigilators for the conduct of the August/September WASSCE for School.

Giving reasons why public secondary school teachers should not be invigilators he said international best practice indicates teachers should not be used as invigilators in external exams due to the potential for conflicting interests.

Kofi Asare has further advised the Ministry of Education(MoE) and CID to prioritize criminal investigations and prosecution of suspected criminals in the examination irregularities value chain to make the ‘Apor’ business a risky one.

He has also petitioned the management of the Ghana Education Service (GES) to reinforce the ban on the use of mobile phones by students in Senior High Schools (SHSs) to curb malpractices in this year’s WASSCE for school exams.