A group calling itself Concerned Parents For Free SHS Ghana has condemned NDC’s 2020 election Running Mate Prof Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang and African Education Watch for downgrading the first batch of beneficiaries of the Free Senior High School policy over the results they chalked in the 2020 West African Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
This comes after the Africa Education Watch stated that investigations it conducted revealed two categories of irregularities occurred during the 2020 WASSCE – leakage in examiners’ contact details and widespread leakage in examination questions.
According to a report launched by the education tink tank, it intercepted an excel spreadsheet on social media which contain a total of 1,520 names of WAEC examiners for the WASSCE 2020.
“That leaked list had the specific names, schools, subject areas, telephone numbers and email addresses of certified WAEC examiners. Our checks, unfortunately, confirmed the data; the purported information in circulation on social media, sadly, was an authentic document from WAEC.”
Also, Prof Opoku-Agyemang in an interview with Woezor TV questioned why Ghanaians are celebrating the outstanding performance of the SHS students in the 2020 WASCCE exams.
“We have also heard and seen students who wrote an exams, came out and it was like, you know we had an earthquake in this country, it wasn’t like one school or two schools … this same group performance is supposed to be outstanding that we shouldn’t be talking, it is the group I am referring to,” she said.
She added, “And they went and wrote the exams we heard of the leakage of the exams, we heard of invigilators being compromised, we heard many many things and we also saw the students come out and speak about, ‘no this is not what we were told will happen’, now these students have as and we are happy? It is up to us.”
The group described as unfortunate an attempt by Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang to attribute the ‘Free SHS’ WASSCE results to leaked papers.
In reaction, the Conveyor for the group, Mr Ben Oteng Marfo said those who claimed the policy was not achievable must bow their heads in shame.
“I found the comment very unfortunate from a well-respected Stateswoman. I understand that, this comment is coloured with some form of political affiliations, however, I find it displeasing that, the political scope of our country has grown badly to the extent that, sensitive discussions such as the progress of a flagship social intervention programme like Free SHS could be politicized badly to create a dint on the image of the country’’.
Mr. Oteng Marfo indicated that one would expect that a Naana Jane who has served in influential capacities in this country such as Vice Chancellor of University of Cape Coast (doubling as the first female Vice Chancellor of a public university in Ghana), served as Education Minister of the Republic and finally risen to become a Running Mate of the NDC in the just ended 2020 General Elections should not be found sacrificing the image of the country on the altar of political affiliations.
“No one should see this as an attack on the personality of the Stateswoman because, that is not so, however, it is heartbreaking and distasteful for someone who has been in the hem of affairs of Education in this country to make such comments as if she never encountered the challenges she highlighted as the reasons to which she believes the results were without merits,” he intimated.
Meanwhile, The West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) says it is contemplating taking action against the Africa Education Watch over its recent reports on 2020 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
Source: Modern Ghana
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