Kofi Asare,Executive Director of African Education Watch
• Africa Education Watch wants government to break WAEC’s monopoly
• It believes the monolopy has bred exam malpractices
• Africa Education Watch has therefore called on government to introduce independent international exams bodies
Education Think Tank, Africa Education Watch, has called on government to take steps to break the monopoly enjoyed by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) to improve standards.
WAEC enjoys monopoly in assessing students and conducting examinations in Ghana.
This call is part of twelve recommendations proffered by the education think tank after conducting thorough research and investigation into the 2020 WASSCE.
African Education Watch’s research was made on the back of the malpractices witnessed in the 2020 West African Secondary Schools Examination.
According to the Executive Director of African Education Watch, Kofi Asare, the research was triggered by the “gravity of malpractices witnessed in the 2020 West African Secondary Schools Examination and the unprecedented leakage of names and contacts of examiners and questions for all but two subjects.”
He believes independent international examining bodies should be involved in the country’s examination and assessment space.
“The Education Ministry must set up a regulator of assessment to regulate WAEC and other assessment bodies before their activities become ungovernable. We need to break the WAEC monopoly. WAEC operates in other countries, but they do not have a monopoly in Nigeria, for instance.”
“There are about six or five internationally reputable assessment bodies in Ghana who have been conducting examination every year and no one hears of any leakages, we need to give them an opportunity to participate in the exam sector, bring in various assessments that they use in assessing so that WAEC will compete and when competition comes in, we believe that WAEC will adopt technologies that will reduce the human involvement or human element which is one of the key reasons why there is leakage.”