Ghana has over the years experienced some examination malpractice in both the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

These malpractice and irregularities include collusion, taking foreign materials and impersonation in examination halls.

These obviously come with consequences – the cancellation and the withholding of results until investigations are concluded. 

For instance, following the completion of investigations into several cases of irregularity detected during the conduct of the 2024 BECE and marking of scripts, the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) cancelled the subject results of 377 school candidates and three private candidates for the offence of bringing foreign materials into the examination hall or colluding with other candidates.

Again, the entire results of 41 school candidates and one private candidate were cancelled while the entire results of 33 school candidates and three private candidates were withheld.

Some subject results of candidates from 149 schools were also reported irregularities.

Institutions

The question is: How would our reputable institutions such as Ghana Education Service (GES) and the WAEC help us to improve the system?

In my opinion, there must be a more strict monitoring system by increasing supervisors and invigilators, and also using experienced officers.

A surveillance device or camera should be used at all examination centres to track who comes in and go out of the catchment areas and halls.

We need to have more clear rules and policies regarding the consequences of malpractice.

The GES must organise more workshops on academic integrity and the importance of independent work.

There is also the need for the use of technology to deal with other forms of malpractice. 

The examination body must step up and expand the serialisation of examination questions to minimise candidates' chances of copying from one another. More appropriate seating arrangements should be put in place to prevent collusion.

The examination body must also create a conducive examination atmosphere or environment for candidates with established clear rules regarding behaviour and expectations during the examination.

It is noticed that, for the past few years, the strategic seating arrangement to minimise distraction and prevent cheating has been compromised.  

It is envisaged that examinations must not be taken in a centre where students are in school, especially our senior high schools.

They could be given five days off to allow a serene atmosphere.

Measures 

Other measures to curb indiscipline are that much attention is needed at where questions are kept before releasing them.

We need digital security if applicable at all centres. In addition, there is a need for a tamper-proof seal and also adequate vehicles to transport the papers to the various centres.

Another issue to address is the late arrival of the vehicles carrying examination questions.

Sometimes candidates had to sit for some time before the arrival of the materials at the centres, especially the remote areas.

The need for GPS tracking in real-time for the vehicles transporting the question papers must be considered in the near future.

Furthermore, there is a need to combat impersonation with a more complex or strict verification system or method with valid identification before and after papers are written.

The system must provide a clear picture or photos of candidates before entry and, when necessary, biometric scanning must be applied, a fingerprint or facial recognition technology to confirm candidates. 

Finally, the use of unique examination codes will be applied to prevent candidates from sharing answers.

As measures are put in place by WAEC and the government - through the GES and the Ministry of Education,  teachers, invigilators and supervisors need to be motivated by their various schools so that they would not compromise when it comes to examination malpractice.

I implore all stakeholders and also the government and WAEC to deal with the problem of examination malpractice.

— The writer is the former Public Relations Officer of the headquarters of the Ghana Education Service.