Don’t make all private schools scapegoats - CHOPSS

The Conference of Heads of Private Second-Cycle Schools (CHOPSS) has called on the public not to use the isolated misbehaviour of some candidates at examination centres to make all private schools scapegoats.

A statement signed by Mr Napthali Kyei-Baffour, Public Relations Officer and Mr K. Dzamesi, General Secretary of CHOPSS, and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra, said Bright Senior High School, a private school, where some students allegedly attacked examination officials, was not a member of CHOPSS and that, that single incident should not be used to define all private senior high schools.

‘‘Although their behaviour is not a great advertisement for private high schools in Ghana, we strongly urge the public not to make any generalisations that all private high schools are run by heads who seek to cheat and compromise the integrity of examinations,’’ it said.

The statement said hundreds of private senior high schools across the country were working diligently to ensure that the West African Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) was written with the highest level of integrity.

It encouraged all member schools to continue to uphold the rules and regulations of the Ghana Education Service and the West African Examination Council concerning the conduct of examinations adding that CHOPSS would not condone any form of irregularity or malpractices in the conduct of the 2020 examination.

‘‘We remain committed to guaranteeing the integrity of the WAEC examinations and will continue to work with all member schools to ensure the safety of all stakeholders assigned to respective private schools during the examinations,’’ it added.

The statement condemned videos going viral on some social media platforms showing some students registering their frustrations and the use of obscene and distasteful language to address the President of Ghana over the outcome of the Integrated Science paper and their assault on the WAEC officials and media personnel at the examination centres.

‘‘It is even more disappointing to learn that the students’ actions were allegedly instigated by the proprietor of the Bright SHS. CHOPSS, hereby, condemns this act and totally supports the decision of the Ghana Education Service to dismiss the culprits and bar them from writing the ongoing examinations in the schools,’’ it said.

It urged all students, proprietors and heads of private and public schools to commit to writing and conducting the 2020 WASSCE in an environment that would ensure fairness, integrity and legitimacy of the examination process and if there was a need to seek redress, direct the concerns to the right authorities.

On Thursday, August 6, some students of the Bright Senior High School, a private school at Kukurantumi in the Eastern Region, were alleged to have clashed with invigilators over social distancing in the examination hall, claiming the invigilators were too strict.

The angry students were said to have smashed the phones of the officials and injured one of them.