Safeguard the integrity of our exams

Once again the conduct of a national examination has been brought into disrepute. Reports indicate that three papers of the ongoing West African Senior School Examination (WASSCE) have been leaked in certain schools in the Eastern and the Greater Accra regions.

Since the Daily Graphic broke the story on its front page yesterday, indications have been that the leak is more widespread than had been anticipated.

Information available to the Daily Graphic indicates that it has always taken the collaboration of students, teachers and parents to bring a national examination into disrepute.

Examination malpractice in the country came to a head last year when five papers of the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) leaked and the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) was compelled to cancel those papers.

When examination papers leak, especially the ones conducted by WAEC, its officials are rebuked and sometimes stakeholders, including students, parents, teacher unions, members of the public and government officials, call for the heads of the national officers of WAEC.

We believe that the move by students, parents and teachers to compromise the integrity of our national examinations, both at the basic and the second cycle levels, can be traced to the breakdown of moral values in our society.

It is unfortunate that these days society salutes people who display affluence without questioning the source of the so-called prosperity.

Although we should be proud of our youth who show signs of prosperity, it behoves parents and leaders of society to question sources of wealth that look suspicious.

In our society many years ago, we were encouraged to work hard to achieve success because we were told, as a cardinal principle, that success could be achieved only through hard work.

That explains why students preparing for final examinations burnt the midnight oil to crown their academic pursuit with distinction.

A school of thought holds the view that the ranking of second-cycle schools may be responsible for the present crave for examination papers, sometimes with the connivance of teachers.

In the not-too-distant past, teachers felt honoured to offer extra tuition to their students, but these days it is a big NO, and teachers, rightly or wrongly, will tell you that these days they want their reward right here on earth and, therefore, they demand payment for services they used to render to their students for free.

Be that as it may, the Daily Graphic thinks that all stakeholders in education must work hard to end the canker of examination leaks that threatens to undermine the educational architecture.

After all, education holds the key to our national development and anybody caught to be engaged in an activity meant to undermine the educational foundation laid many years ago must be dealt with appropriately.

That is why the Daily Graphic calls on the Ministry of Education, the Ghana Education Service (GES), the WAEC and all key stakeholders to bring the perpetrators to book in order to safeguard the integrity of our national examinations that higher educational institutions elsewhere are beginning to question.