The Executive Director of Africa Education Watch, Kofi Asare, has advocated for the West African Examination Council (WAEC) to operate independently from the Ghana Education Service (GES) and its personnel.

Asare contends that the involvement of teachers and individuals employed by the GES in the examination process contributes to various challenges, including malpractices such as cheating.

Speaking on Joy FM's midday news, he pointed out that using the same teachers who instructed the students to oversee the examinations creates opportunities for collusion and undermines efforts by the Ministry of Education to address malpractices.

He said, “I know a teacher who was caught on video during one of our documentaries dictating answers to a Management in Living question in a particular school in Bono. That teacher was then a Management in Living teacher. As we speak, he is an assistant master in another school.”

“So when we hear of instances where some teachers collect money from students, solve questions for them, put them on WhatsApp platforms, and then they copy in the exam hall, and the same teachers are invigilators, and some of them are supervisors in the same exam hall, you must understand that it is possible because WAEC is only present in about 20% of the centres at a particular time.”

Mr. Asare proposed that to achieve true independence and mitigate malpractices, WAEC should adopt measures aligned with international best practices.

He suggested one approach could be for WAEC to engage third-party entities that have no vested interest in the examination outcomes. This, he believes, would contribute to a more impartial and secure examination environment.

“The reason is that it prevents the possibility of conflict of interest and also reduces the corruption risk associated with teachers being involved in examining students that they taught, because the result of the students, more or less, is a litmus of the performance of the teachers,” he explained.

Additionally, Mr. Asare called for the dismissal of teachers who are found to be involved in examination malpractices, including assisting students in cheating.

“Under the current regime, they are not dismissed. The Code of Conduct for Teachers categorizes it as an offence, but it is not an outright dismissal. The GES must elevate their sanctions in the Code of Conduct for teachers who collude or participate in the examination fraud.”

“Then it becomes a very, very high-risk business. Until then, the problem we have on our hands will remain until we change the system which WAEC deploys,” he added.

Last week, the Minister of Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, declared that this year's examination results are the best since 2015. However, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer, John Mahama, raised doubts about the authenticity of the recent results.

Mahama argued that the credibility of the results is compromised, pointing out instances where invigilators are lax on the job and teachers are allegedly aiding students in answering questions.

“In many places, they let the children cheat. You go to places and the teachers are conniving with the students to cheat. The effect will be seen later,” Mr. Mahama said.

The former President, who is on the "Building Ghana Tour", believes the development will have dire consequences on the country's educational system in future.

“You certify these children saying they are of this standard either the BECE or SSCE, and that child will use that certificate, go abroad to a school and they will find out that your qualification is not up to the standard you say it is”.