2020 WASSCE leak: Reduce human interface, deploy more technology - GNAT

The General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Thomas Tanko Musah, has called on the West African Examination Council (WAEC) to reduce the number of persons who come in contact with the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) questions to reduce the recurrence of leakages.

Speaking to GhanaWeb in an exclusive interview, Mr. Musah who condemned the practice called for stricter measures to clamp down on persons behind the act.

He added that WAEC should also tighten all the loopholes in the supply chain of exams questions.

“WAEC has deployed several systems that can detect leakages…the most important thing is to reduce the human interface with the supply chain of the exams questions. We need to reduce it to the barest minimum and when the leakage happens the onus will lie on the people in whose hands we committed the papers to so that they know that when anything goes wrong they will not be spared.”

According to reports, the Social Studies, Core Mathematics, and Chemistry Practical examinations questions were leaked on social media ahead of time.

Ghana experiences exams leakages despite efforts to fight it. It is, however, unclear the source of the leaked questions. There has been an increasing call for exam body to ensure top-notch security in their 'strong room' to prevent exams-leakages.

According to the General Secretary of GNAT, it has become necessary more than ever to bring to book persons who are found culpable of the crime.

He is of the view that “we have not been punishing these people enough, what you hear is the cancellation of exams. If someone has been entrusted with things at WAEC, and the person leaks the exams, I think they should be handed the severest punishment because the person is certainly not patriotic.”

Adding: "If people are found culpable especially in the supply chain of questions, there should be a severe punishment that will serve as a deterrent to people who will try to engage in that.”