Ghana’s educational landscape has been marred by a growing concern: the normalisation of examination malpractice, especially in national exams like the BECE (Basic Education Certificate Examination) and WASSCE (West African Senior School Certificate Examination).
Though the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has made efforts to combat this trend, the roots of this problem go deeper than just catching students and teachers with foreign materials or WAEC officials trading question papers.
At this time of the year, examinations and related incidents of malpractice, and placement issues make the rounds in the news.
What is becoming troubling now is the fact that some schools and students who genuinely study and excel are often unjustly accused of malpractices.
It is true that some schools and teachers, in a bid to improve their academic reputation, may aid students in cheating, believing that strong school-wide results matter more than integrity.
In the current climate, excellence is becoming suspicious, and that is a dangerous direction for any educational system to go.
When a student/ school achieves high grades, instead of celebrating their efforts, society begins to question their integrity.
“They must have had the paper,” or “they know someone inside WAEC,” explains away their success.
This kind of commentary is toxic.
It not only diminishes the hard work of diligent students but also sends a message to others that working hard may not be worth it if success only leads to suspicion.
Students who spend nights studying, attend extra classes, and commit to academic discipline deserve recognition and support.
Tagging top-performing students and schools as cheats undermines the very foundation of education—merit and effort.
Whether anecdotal or not, it is speculated that suspicious schools are blacklisted and marked strictly
Is this also the reason why many private schools struggle to produce sterling grades whilst public schools are hailed?
Perhaps, our educational system must be re-visited to create the fairness that is so much desirable across schools without hurting other students who are also children of the soil.
Exam malpractices have become complicated.
Pressure from parents, the desire to enter first choice schools, and a fear of failure all contribute.
There have been various efforts by the WAEC to clamp down on malpractices.
This includes cancelling papers, blacklisting centres and prosecuting offenders.
This task has been herculean because we have a cultural problem which requires a shift in public attitude.
It is not enough to say a candidate passed with flying colours.
The success story must be told to include the examples of strategy and hard work that led to the legitimate and hard-earned results.
This would help to remove the cloud of suspicion hanging over top scorers and their schools.
Schools must go beyond preparing students for exams and begin to shape character such as honesty, integrity, and the long-term value of hard work.
This should be embedded into the curriculum.
More should be done to support students before exams through counselling, providing study resources, and fairer assessment systems that reduce pressure.
Let’s stop assuming that every top student or school cheated.
Instead, let’s ask what they did right and how others can learn from them.
Success should be inspiring, not suspect.
Falsely accusing hardworking students/ schools is just as damaging.
To build a future led by thinkers, innovators, and honest leaders, we must create an environment where academic integrity is non-negotiable and where success is recognised as the result of hard work, not corruption.
Let’s protect the dignity of our educational system by rooting out malpractice whilst uplifting those who truly earn their place at the top.
The writer is a child development expert/Fellow of the Zero-To-Three Academy, USA.
E-mail: nanaesi.gaisie@wellchildhaven.com
