In a move to crack down on examination malpractice, the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has arrested six teachers involved in aiding students to cheat in the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
The arrests took place in various examination centres across the country.
The teachers, whose identities are being withheld pending further investigations, were reportedly caught engaging in various forms of malpractice, including leaking examination questions and providing unauthorised assistance to students during the exams.
WAEC officials, acting on tips and surveillance reports, swooped in on the suspects during the examination period, leading to their immediate detention.
The six arrested teachers were caught allegedly writing answers for candidates and committing other infractions.
According to a WAEC spokesperson, John Kappi, the teachers were part of a syndicate that had been under surveillance for some time.
“In terms of teachers, I can say so far, we have about six of them who have been picked up for various offences.
“The candidates are a lot of them. It is not easy to give the number right now. We are still putting together the figures, and as and when we are able to compile the list, we will be able to put out the figure,” he said.
He added: “We have picked up in some of the areas where we were told that they wanted to collect money, and then assist the candidates. We have realised that there has been a lot of… We set our monitors around – there were actually widespread examination malpractices.
“They were able to pick up a number of them. In fact, it’s overwhelming. We have looked at the numbers, and basically, it’s about them having foreign material on them and then, in some cases, there’s a report about them writing on the board for the candidates to copy.”
He appealed to all stakeholders, including teachers, students, and parents, to uphold the values of honesty and integrity.
Kappi has also encouraged the public to report any suspicious activities related to the examination process.
