Deputy Ranking Member of the Education Committee of Parliament, Dr Clement Apaak, has called for the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to take action against teachers involved in examination malpractices during the ongoing Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
According to him, teachers must set good examples by condemning cheating rather than participating in it.
The comments by Clement Apaak come after 18 teachers from across the country were arrested for violating the rules governing the ongoing BECE.
WAEC introduced new regulations for the annual examination, including a prohibition of supervisors from sending mobile phones to the examination centres.
However, some invigilators have violated the rules while others attempted to answer questions for candidates.
Speaking on JoyNews AM Show on July 11, Dr. Apaak said, “It is a lot more worrying because it is coming from teachers, because if they had done what they ought to do, and many of do, and they have properly prepared their students, this will be the case where teachers who were apprehended are teachers of that school. And they ought not to try to find these unorthodox ways of giving their students a leg up.”
Dr Apaak stated that some students do not have textbooks based on the new curriculum introduced in 2019.
According to him, some students were ill-prepared due to the government’s failure to ensure sufficient learning materials.
“They did not get the full complement of being prepared, not because their teachers didn’t want to and not because their parents didn’t want them to be properly prepared, and not because they didn’t want to, but government failed in making sure that textbooks were produced for them to use,” Dr Apaak said.
Dr. Apaak added that the absence of textbooks should not justify teachers or students attempting to influence invigilators or supervisors to compromise the integrity of the exams.
“So from JHS 1, 2 to 3, they are writing BECE, they have never seen a textbook, but that should not be an excuse for the teachers to feel that they have to engage in these illegalities to help their students or for the students and their parents to think that the best way forward is for them to try and influence invigilators and supervisors to do the unthinkable,” he said.
The West Africa Examinations Council has cautioned that it will deal with all who infringe on the examination rules, including prosecuting offenders before the courts.
Three teachers and two invigilators in the Ashanti and Bono Regions were arrested for attempting to help students answer questions on the first day of the 2024 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
The incidents come after several warnings issued by the council and some educationists, advising teachers to refrain from teaching students in the examination halls.
Speaking on Joy Prime’s Prime Morning, the Head of Public Affairs of the council, John K. Kapi, said, “Per our rules, the possession of question papers in the course of the examination is against the WAEC law, and so these persons are going to be processed and taken to court, and they’ll be prosecuted.”
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