WAEC to deal with officials involved in irregularities

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has cautioned that it will deal ruthlessly with any member of staff found to have engaged in any form of irregularity in the recent Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in Ghana.

The Head of National Office of the WAEC, Very Rev Samuel Nmai Ollennu, who issued the warning, assured that the council would spare no effort in that vein.

Very Rev. Ollennu, who announced this at a press soiree in Accra to introduce the programme line up for the 33rd edition of the Association for Educational Assessment (AEAA), further assured that WAEC had put in place strategies and structures to maintain the integrity of its examinations.

The conference, which is scheduled for Accra from August 24 to 28, and is expected to attract about 300 participants from all over the continent and Europe, will be hosted by Ghana’s office of the WAEC.

With the theme, “Quality Assurance in educational assessment in an era of rapid change,” 73 papers on eight sub-themes have been submitted and listed for presentation during the five-day conference.

Very Rev. Ollennu emphasised that combating the threat to the integrity of examinations was a shared responsibility of all stakeholders.

“For, it is when we come together as a collective whole that we can adequately deal with these threats,” he explained and urged all stakeholders to resolve to produce students who were intense and critical thinkers founded on sound moral values.

Very Rev. Ollennu conceded that examination malpractice was a threat to the credibility of the examining bodies and explained that it was in recognition of this that one of the sub-themes, “Combating Threats to the Integrity of Examinations”, would be discussed in detail.

He explained that the conference would create a platform for examining and assessment bodies in the educational sector in Africa, to strategise to curb the ever-increasing examination malpractices in the sub-region, to safe-guard the integrity and credibility of examinations conducted in West Africa.

The Registrar to Council, Dr Iyi Uwadiae, conceded that conducting credible examination was not an easy task and appealed to stakeholders and the public to support the council to continue conducting credible examination for its candidates.

Speaking later in an interview, he said, examination malpractice was a serious issue which was a worry to WAEC and a threat to the credibility of the certificate the council issued.

He commended the Government of Ghana and the Ministry of Education for their continuous support for the Ghana office of the WAEC.

The Chairman of the Local Organising Committee of the conference, Mr William Ameho, said the conference was an annual event rotated among member countries.
He explained that it was a platform where researchers would present their research findings and also use the opportunity to interact, share ideas and exchange best practices.