The overall goal of the Ministry of Education is to provide relevant and quality education for all Ghanaians especially the disadvantaged to enable them acquire skills which will make them functionally literate and productive to facilitate poverty alleviation and promote the rapid socio-economic growth of the country.
For a nation poised to achieving its millennium goals, quality education for its citizens cannot be excluded.
Secondary school education is designated for students aged 12 to 19 years. General secondary education consists of three years of Junior High School, leading to the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), followed by three years of Senior High School. At the end of the Senior High School programme, students sit for the West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) conducted by the West African Examination Council (WAEC), an International examination body established in 1952.
An examination is the most practical and useful way to determine whether students have achieved the instructional objectives in a particular course of study or not.
An examination is a formal test of knowledge or ability in a particular subject; especially by means of answering questions or practical exercises. However, the fundamental role of examination in an educational process can be valued from the fact that good examination is a source of motivation for students; assisting them to know their strengths and weaknesses. It also provides opportunities for teachers to use new teaching methodologies in order to improve the teaching-learning process.
However, with the quest of acquiring the BECE and WASSCE certificates, some students maximize ‘available opportunities’, one of which is examination malpractice. Examination malpractice, also known as cheating is defined as any deliberate act of wrongdoing, contrary to the rules of examinations designed to give a candidate an undue advantage.
The perennial leakages of the WAEC examination papers is a hapless occurrence which undermines the integrity of the educational system of Ghana and potentially demeans the sustenance of the international competitiveness of Ghanaian students. In recent times, most people doubt the authenticity of certificates earned by these students after completing their High School Education.
The questions are seen on several social media platforms prior to the examination with WhatsApp been the main avenue for the transmission. The resurgence of some rogue websites whose operators, with the collusion of some invigilators and supervisors, receive snapshots of the question papers from the examination centres after the question papers are opened.
The most identified forms of examination malpractice among students are: leakage of question papers in the process of setting, printing, packaging, storing and distribution. Others include impersonation, smuggling of foreign materials, and copying.
Parents and communities are deeply involved in encouraging and abetting examination malpractices by taking care of the supervisory staff and other examination bodies to enable their children pass examination with no difficulty. It has been observed these days that cheating in examination has become ubiquitous, internalized and legitimized that some people now consider it as a normal process.
The consequences of examination malpractice to education, society and nation at large could be dangerous in the long run. As part of the effects, massive leakages of these examination questions led to the cancellation of BECE papers in 2002, cancellation of five BECE papers in 2015 and cancellation of WASSCE papers in 2008. The 2016 WASSCE Examinations were also fraught with leakages of the question papers.
At the 2016 edition of WASSCE Distinction Awards held in Accra on Thursday, March 9, 2017, Very Reverend Dr. Samuel Nii Nmai Ollenu, former Head of the National Examination Administration Department of the West African Examination Council of the Ghana National Office revealed that for the 2016 WASSCE, 11,277 candidates lost various subject results, whilst 647 candidates had their entire results cancelled.
Also, examination malpractice is a negative orientation for future leaders who may end up being fraudulent and corrupt in their various offices with low morale and academic values. Financial malfeasance and other forms of corruption in government and private organizations could be attributed to examination malpractices.
As to why students, educational instructors and parents would want to engage in examination malpractice; psychological, environmental, intelligence and institutional factors could be considered as major causes.
Psychological factors consider stress and anxiety to meet the demands of various subjects including the creation of tremor of failure or scoring low grades, forcing some candidates to fall to the menace.
Environmental factors look into inadequate coverage of syllabus, coupled with close sitting nature of candidates at examinations, enticing candidates to examination malpractice.
Intelligence factors also portray that candidates are of different academic strengths or intelligent quotient levels, and failure to recognize this can make weaker students compare themselves with naturally gifted ones.
Not wanting to work extra hard to match these brilliant ones, the academic-weak ones may get themselves involve with examination malpractice.
Institutionally, much pressure is placed on school authorities when the WAEC results are released. This becomes compelling when the students fail massively in a particular subject.
As a result, school authorities and teachers resort to all means to get their students to score good grades in order to avoid embarrassment.
As my passionate appeal, I conclude this article by requesting WAEC, and other stakeholders such as Ministry of Education, Ghana Education Service, Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS), Proprietors of private schools and law enforcement agencies to be resolute in their commitment to sustain the integrity of examinations conducted in Ghana by the West African Examination Council
By Samuel Danso
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