adminWAEC Bans 5 SHS For Charging Unapproved Fees to Register Candidates
Five Senior High Schools (SHSs) were disqualified from registering students for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) this year by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) for charging fees that were not authorized.
Abesim’s Olistar Senior High/Technical School is one of the affected schools; Sunyani’s Gateway SHS and Lawrence SHS Martin Luther SHS, Kintampo, and First Class SHS, Achimota, Accra
“The approved fee was for seven or eight subjects, excluding practical or oral tests which ranged between GH14.50 and GH19.50,” it said in a statement for the Head of Public Affairs Unit at WAEC Ghana, Madam Agnes Teye-Cudjoe. The affected schools “commercialized the registration process” by putting up banners and charging prospective candidates between GH1,200 and GH6,750 with the promise of good grades instead of the approved fee of GH38
In addition, the statement stated that the affected schools’ registration login codes had been suspended pending further investigation and additional penalties for the illegal behavior.
The statement noted that registration for this year’s WASSCE, which opened on Wednesday, would end on Wednesday, April 19th, 2023, and cautioned schools against registering candidates who were not their legitimate final-year students, former WASSCE candidates, or students who did not have continuous assessment records.
The statement continued, “We have received intelligence reports of some students who move from their schools to private schools to register for the examination because of assurances of obtaining good grades.”
It stated that infractions like these would result in the schools being closed for at least a year and the complete results of non-school or unqualified candidates being withheld.
It was noted that Ghanaian candidates would take the WASSCE alone for the second time from July 31 to September 26, 2023, due to the country’s inability to revert to the previous academic calendar due to COVID-19 disruptions.
She made the following remark: “As part of measures to ensure test security, the WAEC had increased inspection of schools that had applied for accreditation to present candidates, and would take action against regular schools that were operating as remedial schools to demand higher fees and assist in cheating.”
According to the statement, fines for misbehaving during exams, posting real-time questions online, and failing to grant inspectors timely access to the school’s premises have been added to the guidelines for dealing with irregularities in the council’s exams.
Eireann
admin
