Accra: The Ghana Education Service (GES) is urging the public to report exam malpractice using its hotlines as it steps up the fight against the canker. Deputy Director-General Professor Smile Gavua Dzisi said the hotlines - 020-1360-789 for calls and SMS, and 020-1360-786 for WhatsApp - have already helped curb malpractice in the BECE and should be used more.
According to Ghana Web, Professor Dzisi warned that security agencies have infiltrated secret platforms used to leak exams. 'We have people all over the place, security agencies that have joined all sorts of secret platforms, so if you try, you'll be in trouble,' she said. She added that some teachers and invigilators are still daring despite campaigns against malpractice.
Professor Dzisi emphasized the consequences for educators involved in malpractice, stating, 'We want to remind them that we'll catch them and they'll be in trouble, because so far, we have some of the teachers convicted for examination malpractice. And if you are a teacher and you indulge in examination malpractice and you are caught, that is the end of your career with the GES.'
She highlighted the importance of maintaining the integrity of exams to assess true learning outcomes. 'Let's leave them, let them write the examination, and let's see the true reflection so we can know what to do and how to improve upon whatever we are doing. But when we try to give them 'apo', we indulge in exam malpractice -- it does not help us at all,' she said.
Professor Dzisi called on parents, guardians, teachers, and schools to 'say no to exam malpractice' and allow students to write in peace. Commenting on Ghana's return to the May-June WASSCE-SC with other WAEC countries after five years, she noted that it came at no extra cost to the government. 'So, it's very significant to know that after five years, this is the first time that we are writing WASSCE-SC with other West African countries. So, we are all in line now and that will not cost the country a lot of money,' she said.
Greater Accra Regional Director of Education Hajia Katumi Natogmah Attah urged invigilators not to aid students and appealed to candidates to write honestly. 'We want people to be reassured that all the certificates that we are getting in Ghana are also competitive and we can use them in other countries, so let us write well. Let us stop examination malpractice,' she said.