ENSURING CREDIBLE WASSCE
EXAM, A SHARED TASK
On
the 1ST September, 2021 candidates of the West African Senior School
Certificate Examination (WASSCE) wrote the Oral English paper.
On
Monday, August 16, the 2021 WASSCE candidates began their examination with the
practical subjects. The examination is expected to continue until October 8,
2021 when the curtain will finally be brought down
The WASSCE is of importance in many ways for not only the
candidates writing it, but also Ghana as a nation.
For the candidates, it is a yardstick
for their progression on the academic ladder and their future, while for Ghana,
its integrity and reputation is at stake.
That is why it is the collective
responsibility of all stakeholders, particularly policymakers, teachers,
parents and the candidates to ensure that the examination is conducted and
written in a free and fair environment, devoid of any malpractice
The Daily Graphic believes that these primary stakeholders,
including civil society organisations, have a role to play to help protect the
future of the candidates and the integrity of our motherland in the eyes of the
world.
It is a fact, however, that since the
examination is conducted by human beings, the possibility of the unscrupulous
ones trying to outsmart the system is real and it behoves all of us to liaise
with WAEC, the body responsible for conducting the examination, in the event of
such an unfortunate incident instead of rushing to the social or traditional
media to announce it.
That is why the Daily Graphic finds it
unfortunate that at the start of the practical papers, the Africa Education
Watch (EDUWATCH), a CSO in the area of education, went to social media on a
seeming leakage of one of the papers, news some traditional media also spread.
We definitely support the role civil
society organisations play as watchdogs to ensure an incident-free examination,
but in doing so, let us be circumspect in the way we communicate the lapses so
as not to drag the image of WAEC and, ultimately, Ghana in the mud.
The Daily Graphic believes that monitoring can be done without the fanfare if
the real intention is to help improve the conduct of the examination.
We acknowledge the role EDUWATCH is playing
in the education sector, but wish to advise that such information can better be
managed by channelling it to the WAEC, which will, in turn, furnish the
national security so they can track them down.
Let us not give these unpatriotic
citizens, who peddle false information on the leakage or who go great lengths
to cause the leakage, the oxygen to operate by recognising their activities
which tend to lay the blame on the doorstep of WAEC.
Rather, let's join hands to flush them
out of the system by helping both the WAEC security and the national security
with adequate information to deal with them.
This era of social media makes such exercise extremely difficult
to carry out without the full cooperation of stakeholders and indeed the entire
society.
Indeed, examination malpractice is not
peculiar to Ghana. The rest of the member countries as well as other
examination bodies throughout the world are grappling with the situation.
In some situations, internet
connectivity is disabled within the period of the examination. That, for now,
is not a feasible position, but that is how serious examination malpractice is
globally and how desperately some countries are dealing with it.
We believe the time has come for our
telcos to, as a matter of national interest, help track down the originators of
such information and also, the owners of the rogue websites.
The Daily Graphic uses this opportunity
to urge the candidates to focus on the examination and not to be distracted by
unscrupulous ill-gotten wealth seekers
We also wish to appeal to stakeholders, particularly the
invigilators, supervisors and security personnel to guard against any attempt
to compromise the integrity of the examination.
The success of the over one-month-long
examination being held across the country cannot be left in the hands of only
the West African Examination Council (WAEC).
All of us have a role to play in
ensuring the conduct of a credible examination and not only WAEC.