Four candidates who took the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) have been prosecuted by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) for engaging in exam malpractice. Among them, 4 have been convicted and fined between GHC1,200 and GHC3,000. Investigations are ongoing for 13 other cases, while prosecution is underway for 2 cases.

Rev. Victor Brew, WAEC's Head of Legal, emphasized the importance of protecting exam integrity and called for stricter penalties to deter future offenses.

He highlighted concerns over a new trend where candidates insert money and contact numbers into answer booklets to influence results.

WAEC's Head of Public Affairs, John Kapi, confirmed this emerging issue and expressed worries about an increase in exam malpractice from 2% in 2021 to 10% in 2023.

The contact numbers come with the inscriptions, call me, help me, call my mom, to appeal to the examiners.

Mr Kapi said “The Council is recording a high number of cases where candidates write telephone numbers or the phrase “help me”, “call me”, “just call my mom” in their answer booklets and add GHC50 or more to it.

To monitor this year's BECE, WAEC has enlisted support from Ghana Education Service, GNAT, Ghana Police Service, National Security, National Intelligence Bureau, and external monitoring agents.

The exam is scheduled from July 8 to July 15, with 569,095 students expected to participate.

Head of Legal at the Council, Rev. Victor Brew said this is part of efforts to protect the integrity of the examinations.

“We have done some prosecutions with 4 candidates convicted and fined. We believe this should let the public know that we are very concerned about the cases of examination malpractice, and we will act on all,” he warned.

”The current penalty points in the law translates into a fine of between GHC1,200 to GHC3,000, which is not deterrent enough. If we can have a change in it to an amount that is hefty, then we can make some head way and deter others,” he added.

A recent study by the West African Examination Council revealed a worrying trend of rising examination malpractice in the country.

The period between 2021 and 2023, showed a significant increase in the percentage of candidates involved in examination malpractice from 2% in 2021 to 10% in 2023.