WAEC must maintain its integrity ahead of BECE - MP

MP for Assin South Constituency, John Ntim Fordjour has urged the West African Examination Council (WAEC) to maintain its integrity as the Basic Education Certificate Examination commences.

He insisted that the continuous leakage of examination papers negatively affects the Council.

He thus advised them to ensure that no case of examnination paper leakage is recorded ahead of this year’s BECE which starts on Monday June 5th 2017

The examination is expected to last for a week and end on Friday June 9th 2017.

“The perennial leakages of the WAEC examination papers is an unfortunate phenomenon which grossly undermines the integrity of the education system of Ghana and potentially vitiates the sustenance of the international competiveness of Ghanaian students. It also has implications for the image of Ghana on the international front. ” he observed.

“WAEC is an independent international examinations body established in 1952 and mandated to conduct examinations and award credible and reliable certificates to candidates who participate in the examinations. “ he added

The legislator was of the view that WAEC together with other stakeholders need to do more to correct the anomaly.

He cited instances of leakages in the past and also made reference to statements the Council has made to curb the menace but to no avail.

Mr Speaker, permit me to foremost convey my best wishes to all candidates who are preparing in earnest towards the impending Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) across the country, while I congratulate the candidates who sat the just ended West African Secondary Schools Certificate Examination (WASSCE), and to state that my prayers are with them and believing God Almighty to reward their toil with excellent results.

“It gives me no delight to recount on the grounds of massive leaks of examination papers, the cancellation of BECE papers in 2002; the cancellation of WASSCE papers in 2008; and recently in 2015, the cancellation of five (5) BECE papers.”

“The most embarrassing of the menace occurred in 2016 where amidst the viral transmission of examination questions on various social media platforms hours prior to the scheduled exams, WAEC failed to concede leakage but rather insisted on describing the incidence as “foreknowledge of the questions before commencement of examination”.”

He challenged WAEC to emulate the successes of other examination regulatory bodies so as to improve on their standards.

The Assin South legislator was hopeful that the candidates will comport themselves and focus on their studies to avert any mishap.

He appealed to all stakeholders to remain committed to their task to sustain the integrity of the examinations and not jeopardise the educational system of the country and its future leaders.