A lot of 2024 WASSCE candidates engaging in malpractice – WAEC

A lot of final-year Senior High School students or WASSCE candidates sitting for this year’s West African Senior School Certificate Examination are engaging in examination malpractice, the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has disclosed.

“The candidates are a lot of them. It is not easy to give the number right now. We are still putting together the figures, and as and when we are able to compile the list, we will be able to put out the figure,” a spokesman for WAEC stated.

In an interview monitored by Pretertiary.com, the Head of Public Affairs at WAEC, John Kapi said six teachers and invigilators have been arrested for engaging in various examination malpractices in the ongoing examination.

Speaking to JoyNews, the WAEC spokesperson said the teachers were arrested along with an ‘overwhelming’ number of students from both public and private schools across the country during the first week of the 2024 WASSCE.

“In terms of teachers, I can say so far, we have about six of them who have been picked up for various offences,” Kapi said adding that they were caught allegedly writing answers for candidates and committing other infractions.

“We have picked up in some of the areas where we were told that they wanted to collect money, and then assist the candidates. We have realised that there has been a lot of… We set our monitors around –  there were actually widespread examination malpractices. 

They were able to pick up a number of them. In fact, it’s overwhelming. We have looked at the numbers, and basically, it’s about them having foreign material on them and then, in some cases, there’s a report about them writing on the board for the candidates to copy,” he told JoyNews.

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) official assured that all those involved would be punished according to the rules governing the 2024 edition of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for School.

A total of 460,611 candidates representing 212,954 males and 247,657 females from 1,003 Senior High Schools across the country are participating in the 2024 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for School.

Ongoing at 1,000 centres across the country, the management of the not-for-profit-making organization, in a statement sighted by Pretertiary.com, said the figure is 2.66% higher than the 2023 entry figure of 448,674.

Relatedly, the Ministry of Education (MoE) says teachers tasked as invigilators for the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for School who will be found guilty of aiding examination malpractice will be dismissed from the service and also face a jail term.

In a statement sighted by Pretertiary.com, the Education Ministry said teaching and non-teaching staff of the Ghana Education Service (GES) caught aiding or abetting examination malpractice will face severe punishment.

The Ministry of Education (MoE) in the statement signed by Deputy Minister of Education, Dr Clement Abas Apaak, said it will not shield anyone who engages in any attempt to aid or abet any examination irregularity.

“We also urge all personnel to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity before, during, or after examinations. Protecting the fairness of the examination process is a collective responsibility of all.

We expect all stakeholders to work together to maintain a culture of integrity and to ensure that students succeed based on merit.

The Ministry of Education will not shield anyone who engages in any attempt to aid or abet any examination irregularity,” the Education Ministry (MoE) statement dated August 5, 2025, noted.