Keta: The public in Keta municipality of the Volta Region have suggested methods to adopt to curb the pressing menace of examination malpractices in Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and West Africa Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
According to Ghana News Agency, it was important for West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) and the Ghana Education Service (GES) to look for better alternatives to mitigate the several allegations of examination malpractice in the country. Mr. Thomas Goodman Asigbi, an Educationist at Abor, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, suggested measures such as implementation of stricter security protocols during exams to prevent cheating among students. 'WAEC must improve invigilation and ensure that invigilators are vigilant and well-trained to detect and prevent malpractice during examinations,' he said.
Mr. Asigbi explained that students must be educated about the consequences of examination malpractices and the importance of academic integrity to create awareness about the penalties involved. He said that the government through the GES should work together with parents to emphasise and educate various students about the value of honest academic effort and the dangers of malpractice that would endanger their future. 'As technology is getting to another level these days, I think integration which involves utilising technology to monitor and detect cheating, as well as to provide alternative assessment methods should be adopted.'
He also cautioned that African education was focused too much on bookish knowledge and should be restructured to promote technical and vocational institutions to inculcate the skills and knowledge of craft in the students to alleviate the high level of alleged examination malpractices. Other residents of Keta, GNA spoke with, also urged WAEC to strengthen their efforts of addressing examination malpractices to maintain the integrity of the education system as well as work together with heads of institutions to help ensure that students were assessed fairly and that their academic achievements are a true reflection of their abilities.
The people of Keta were encouraged to support measures and work together to prevent examination malpractices to enable the creation of a fair and honest academic environment that benefits all students. However, GNA gathered that subject results of a total number of 718 candidates were cancelled with 93 candidates whose entire results were withheld, while 177 candidates faced cancellation of their entire results, with subject results of 1,240 candidates being withheld over BECE exam malpractices.
Statistics available to the GNA indicated that 895 BECE results were cancelled in 2025 as compared to 422 in 2024, 357 in 2023, 494 in 2022, 211 in 2021, and 461 in 2020. It was also revealed that Ghana recorded 1,808 results cancelled in 2015 which was the highest as compared to 1,025.
