BECE: Has it lost its shine, significance?
For as long as I have come to know it, unfortunately, for each year, there has been some form of controversy over the Basic Certificate of Education (BECE).
In almost all such controversies, one can pinpoint embarrassment and shame arising from examination practices, if not with children cheating at the examination halls or officials helping children to cheat.
Why have we reached this stage, and how long should we continue to accept and live with the disgraceful practice?
Malpractices
Even more disturbing is that the malpractices are not just hearsay or mere allegations but realities. Our own West African Exams Council (WAEC) has come to grips with the situation, as confirmed by its monitoring teams.
As recent as just over a month ago, the 2025 examinations, which started on August 5, was hit with worrying anomalies, as confirmed by a Daily Graphic front page story of September 6, headlined “Ongoing WASSCE: WAEC uncovers massive cheating”.
According to the story, the monitoring teams set up by WAEC for this year’s Senior Secondary School Certificate Examinations for school candidates have uncovered many irregularities and cheating by some candidates and invigilators.
The details of the exposed irregularities are shocking, pointing to pre-calculated intentions to defy order, cheat the system and make selfish gains—a clear form of corruption.
Reportedly, the irregularities discovered by the WAEC monitoring team included impersonations, taking snapshots of questions and providing answers and carrying mobile phones into the examination halls, even though not permitted.
As swift as it may sound, 16 persons have already been picked up at various examination centres, while 64 mobile phones have been seized in one school alone by investigators.
Two persons arrested for impersonation at one of the centres have already been processed through court.
The two have been sentenced to six months' imprisonment each, and their accomplice has received a months' sentence.
Video evidence
A video evidence provided by an investigative journalist has also confirmed the extent of malpractices in this year’s BECE examinations.
According to the video, at some sampled examination centres, some invigilators demanded daily tokens of GH¢60, while supervisors went home with envelopes containing “bribe” monies of GH¢400.
So, that is the extent to which tomorrow’s potential leaders are being compromised or preparing themselves for the future, a compromised future of “garbage in, garbage out”.
It certainly is not a good picture for parents and the nation.
The Bible enjoins us to “Train a child the way he should go and when he is old, he will not turn from it.” (Proverbs 22:6). What one sees and hears points to a gloomy future for these children if care is not taken.
Academic excellence
With all that has been realised so far in this year’s BECE, including reports of even more blatant and widespread malpractice, has the basic certificate examination for entry into senior high school been compromised and become unfit for purpose?
How do we evaluate academic excellence when students are not studying with the intention to write exams, as some of us did, but are being taught how to cheat for high scores?
These acts cast their shadows on the indiscipline that one hears going on in some of our high schools and also by some youths.
One now understands why some schools will not admit new entrants based solely on their BECE performance.
These schools have probably long seen the “garbage in, garbage out” effect.
Therefore, they will insist on good performance using their own entry examinations for students wanting to join their schools as a measure of standards.
Some schools, which are well ahead, are conducting their competitive entry examinations for admissions even into their basic schools for children as young as six years.
That is their measure to grade excellence.
One can safely say that with all the escalated malpractices in the BECE, the system could be said to have been compromised, with trust thrown to the wind and integrity proving to be inconsequential.
No, the system would need a complete overhaul to change how BECE is run, going forward.
The WAEC basic certificate of examination needs a major shake-up in how the examination process is carried out.
For now, it seems the miscreants deep in the cheating game are always ahead and giving the examination a bad name.
Punitive measures, including banning culprits from writing future examinations, cancelling the entire school’s results and dismissals, do not seem to have worked.
And so, with the escalation of malpractices seen so far this year, it remains emphatic that any existing punitive measures need a second look.
If students, teachers and invigilators have their necks so deep in the misdemeanour of examination malpractices, the question is, can the image of BECE be saved?
Have their values been badly compromised and, therefore, lost their relevance?
Should schools begin to find their own means of recruiting students at that level?
The questions are more than the answers, and your guess is as good as mine.
Writer’s email: vickywirekoandoh@yahoo.com
