A Deputy Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Professor Smile Dzisi Gavua, has stated that the GES is taking a strong stand against any form of examination misconduct. 

“We will not tolerate exam malpractices and anyone caught will be dealt with according to the rules,” she emphasised.

Prof. Gavua stated this last Wednesday after leading a team to visit three major Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) centres — Osu Ringway JHS, Accra High School and the Nima Cluster of Schools — to monitor the conduct of the examinations.

Calm atmosphere

In all the centres visited, the atmosphere was calm, students appeared focused and ready and exam papers were delivered on time.

Candidates sat for their first subject — English Language — promptly at 9:00 a.m., as scheduled by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC).

“We actually got to the first centre before the paper started. At exactly 9 a.m., the paper started and everyone was in high spirits.

At all three centres, the level of organisation and preparedness was impressive.

All resources have been made available — supervisors are in place, materials are intact and GES officials are on the ground,”  Prof. Gavua told the Daily Graphic.

She said all key education stakeholders, including officials from the Ministry of Education and regional and district directors of education, were actively monitoring the process to swiftly respond to any challenges.

“There have been no reports of delays, no leakages and no malpractice so far,” she said.

Prof. Gavua encouraged the candidates to remain confident, focus on their work and rely on what they had studied.

“They should write what they know and leave the rest to God.

If they need anything during the exams, they should simply raise their hands — support is available,” she assured.

This year’s exams

This year’s BECE is being written by 603,328 candidates — comprising 297,250 males and 306,078 females — from 20,395 schools, across 2,237 examination centres.

The Ashanti Region leads with the highest number of candidates (119,354), followed by Greater Accra (111,700) and Central Region (67,146).

To ensure the success of the exams, WAEC, working with GES and the Ministry of Education, has deployed 2,237 supervisors, 2,016 assistant supervisors and 21,206 invigilators.

WAEC also disclosed the adoption of enhanced digital tracking for the safe dispatch of question papers.

The exams, which mark a significant milestone in the academic journey of junior high school students, will end on Wednesday, June 18.