Dismissal of teachers who engaged in exams fraud apt – Eduwatch

Eduwatch has commended the Ghana Education Service (GES) for interdicting 11 officials due to their alleged role in examination malpractices during the 2020 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), and the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).

Announcing the interdiction, the GES said in a statement last week that “Management directs that the appointment of the officers be terminated from the GES in line with Section 3, 32 (III) of the Code of Conduct for staff of Ghana Education Service (GES).

In view of that, Management directs that the appointment of the officers be terminated from the GES in line with Section 4.3 (IV) as contained in the code of conduct for staff of GES.

“Since the termination of appointment requires the endorsement of the Ghana Education Service Council, the officers should be interdicted forthwith pending the final determination of the matter by the GES Council which will be communicated to you in due course,” portions of the statement said.

Reacting to this development, Eduwatch in a statement on Monday January 10 said “We commend the GES for dismissing staff who participated in examination malpractices in the 2020 WASSCE and BECE.

“The move is a bold statement of zero tolerance for teachers’ participation in examination malpractices. In 2021, significant strides were made in securing commitments from the MoE and Parliament to reform WAEC and strengthen accountability and credibility in their examinations. While some of the issues are long term, many others are achievable within 2022.

“These include the need to commission an independent inquiry into the 2021 WASSCE leakages and prosecute staff and assigns of WAEC whose actions or inactions may have led to the 2021 leakages in WASSCE papers; introduction of serialized questions; amendment of the WAEC Act to criminalize examination malpractices and related activities; digitizing questions transmission and the establishment of a regulator of the external examinations sector to among others regulate WAEC and other examining bodies in Ghana, in line with international standards.

“The MoE must prioritize these key actions in 2022.”