By: Nana Kofi Hammah
The Head of Public Affairs of the West African Examination Council (WAEC), Agnes Teye Cudjoe, has affirmed that preparations and measures have been put in place to organize this year’s West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
This year’s examinations will be conducted only in Ghana by WAEC.
The Public Relations Officer speaking on the current affairs program ‘FOCUS’ on GBC disclosed that “Because of the change in the academic calendar which was mainly affected by Covid-19, our candidates were not able to join the other 4 member African countries to take the exams because the sequence has been altered. But efforts are being put in place to align with the other countries as times goes on, to be on the same page”.
However, she has assured the public that this will not affect the conduct of the exams in any way.
She also noted that “all necessary security measures have been put in place to make this year’s examinations successful.
She indicated that WAEC is ready and confident that this year’s conduct of exams and possibly without any hitches.
This year’s WASSCE examinations will commence on 1st August 2022. It will start with the candidates doing their visual arts project work for 2 weeks, and end on the 19th August.
On the 22nd there will be administering of the theory papers and the entire examination will end on the 27th September 2022.
Mrs Agnes Cudjoe speaking on the constant criticism on WAEC’s credibility, stated that “We accept responsibility on the backlash because we have the mandate to conduct examinations in Ghana but these cases of leakages cannot be solely put at our doorsteps”.
She assured that in carrying out their mandate, all security protocols within their scope have been adhered to but also divulged that some of these leakage problems can be traced when the papers leave their outfit.
“We rely on other stakeholders after its gone through a rather meticulous process from our end but all stakeholders within the value chain are encouraged to play a role to safeguard the integrity of the exams” she added.
She also mentioned that the exams papers are kept in a well-fortified room with a 24-hour security on guard. This she believes are enough stringent measures to curtail any malpractices because no staff of WAEC will want to jeopardize their careers.
Strict security presence is assured through the value chain before the papers gets to the students.
Every stage has about 2 supervisors and this, WAEC maintains will guarantee the safety and no compromise of the examinations papers leaking.
Also on the program was the research fellow at the African Education Watch, a think-tank organization, Divine Kpe, who has fiercely criticized WAEC on some occasions on their neglect and involvement in some of the problems identified, such as leakages however commended WAEC on their efforts to change the dynamics of this year’s exams, and welcomed all measures being put in place to ensure the credibility of this year’s examination.
He said “we are not interested in being an adversary to WAEC, but recognize them as a partner in helping to shape education policies and also protect the validity of the assessment process”.
This year’s examinations will be held in a very unique manner, where questions are set different for every district and every center and candidate having different but similar questions.
“All candidates are therefore encouraged to prepare themselves well and not panic, because the questions will be based on their syllabus and not different from the mock they had” the head of Public affairs at WAEC stated.
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