Cheating in WASSCE is now high under Free SHS policy

A Deputy Ranking Member of the Education Committee of Parliament, Dr Clement Apaak following recent reports of cheating in WASSCE says the decade situation is currently worse under the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) policy

His comment comes after President Akufo-Addo at the 61st Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS) event said Senior High School student’s performance in WASSCE has improved amid the Free SHS policy

Reacting to His Excellency’s claim, Mr Apaak said Nana Akufo-Addo is out of touch with the current state of education in Ghana saying that since 2020, Ghana has not been participating in the WASSCE due to declining standards.

The Member of the Parliament Education Committee cited this as the reason the National Teaching Council (NTC) is requesting a substantial GHS7 billion cedi budget for organising the Ghana teacher licensure examination (GTLE).

Dr Clement Apaak also mentioned that he has received complaints from his university lecturer friends about the quality of Senior High School (SHS) students graduating from the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) programme.

He attributed the increase in cheating and examination irregularities to the fact that prospective final-year students at the second cycle level are not receiving a proper education and that teachers lack motivation.

In a related development, the West African Examinations Council as part of its name-and-shame approach to end cheating in BECE has published names of Junior High Schools involved in examination malpractice in the examination.

St John Bosco Basic School, Trinity Lutheran School, Oxford School Complex in Dunkwa-On-Offin and Ashanti Nkoranza D/A JSS according to the Head of Public Affairs for WAEC, John Kapi are schools engaged in malpractice.

In an interview with Daily Graphic, he said his outfit with the assistance of security personnel has picked up seven teachers, one of them an invigilator, at different examination centres for their involvement in examination malpractice.

The teachers he said were allegedly found either solving questions of the BECE or with phones and tablets in their possession, with answers to questions in the exam after they were captured on camera transmitting the materials to the students.