WASSCE now starts same time in West Africa to stop cheating
All West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) candidates in the West African sub-region now use the Greenwich Meridian Time (GMT) instead of their local time to write the examination.
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This, according to the Ghana Education Service (GES), was to reduce examination malpractices because previously, candidates in the participating countries, with different time zones used their local times to write the examination which made some countries to write various papers ahead of candidates in other countries.
The Director of Secondary Education of the GES, Rev. Simon A. Asige, who made this known to the Junior Graphic explained that because the participating countries used their local time in writing the examination, some students were able to communicate with their counterparts in other countries who might not have written particular papers and in the process were able to have prior knowledge of exam questions.
For instance, if all the countries were writing a paper at 9 a.m., they used their local time which meant that by the time candidates in Nigeria were writing a paper at 9 a.m, students in Ghana and other West African countries because of the time difference had more time before starting that paper.
“They, therefore, communicate through the Internet, use the facebook and whatsapp to get ideas about the questions and their solutions,” pointing out that communication was mostly between Ghanaian and Nigerian candidates.
Rev. Asige was quick to add however, that, that was not the reason why for the past three years, Ghanaian students had excelled in the WASSCE in the sub-region.
To stop this, therefore, “This year, all the participating countries are using the GMT and on every examination day, each paper starts at 08.30 a.m. We hope that starting and ending a paper at the same time irrespective of where a candidate lives will eliminate the practice,” Rev. Asige said.
To further ensure that there was no cheating during the examination, he said, as from this year, teachers who invigilated during the examinations were not allowed to carry their mobile phones into the examination halls.
Rev. Asige said this year also, sampling of supervisors had been introduced, explaining that the head of a school who was usually the supervisor of examinations in that school was now sent to a different school to supervise.
Rev. Asige advised that it was important for students to study hard and pass their examinations at all levels of their education because they needed to start life without any form of cheating, and added that, “Parents should not compare their children with others so that their children will not try to impress them through cheating during examinations.”