An education think tank, Africa Education Watch, is calling for external investigations to ascertain the actual source of leaks in the 2021 West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE).

Speaking to journalists, the Executive Director of Africa Education Watch, Kofi Asare, said “the first step in blocking the perennial leaks is identifying its source.”

“It is on the back of this that we are requesting an external investigation to ascertain the actual source of leaks in this year’s WASSCE papers.”

“This external investigation will not only give a clue about the exact source of leaks within WAEC’s questions value chain or supply chain but also provide us a basis for holding certain staff and consultants or consultants of WAEC accountable and possibly sanctioned,” Mr. Asare said.

The think tank in a report claimed that it had uncovered a syndicate that leaked examination questions.

It said this syndicate comprised teachers, students, and security personnel.

Africa Education Watch also said out of the 20 WASSCE papers sampled, 55 percent leaked within 10 hours of the start of the exam, with one practical paper leaking five days earlier.

The education think tank had petitioned the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) over the alleged leaks in the 2021 WASSCE and has been critical of failings by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC)

The council admitted that extracts of questions for the elective Mathematics 2 paper and Section ‘A’ of English Language 2, were circulated on some social media platforms prior to the examination.

It however said the circulation was not extensive.

The Council also rescheduled two papers –physics and business management.

WAEC, in response to Africa Education Watch’s claims, asked the think tank to provide further details on the claims of exam malpractices in the WASSCE.