Anti leakage software makes school heads liable — GES
The Director General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Mr Jacob Kor, has stated that the introduction of a computer software by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), to detect examination malpractices makes headteachers, supervisors and regional directors answerable for any malpractices that would be detected.
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Called ‘Item Differential Profile’, the software which is being used by some universities in the United Kingdom (UK), including Cambridge University, is able to detect malpractices in both written and objective examinations.
Mr Kor, who was addressing journalists in Kumasi yesterday, said when malpractices were detected, heads of the affected schools, invigilators and supervisors would all suffer, while the entire results might be cancelled.
He added, however, that after the software had detected any malpractice, in-depth investigations would be carried out to bring to book all those connected with either the leakage or the malpractice, stessing that none of those who would be fished out would be spared.
No cancellation
Answering questions on the leakage of papers in the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), Mr Kor reiterated that there would not be a cancellation of results as a result of the alleged leakage.
He said the alleged leaks were not nationwide, but involved two schools in one region.
The Daily Graphic of Wednesday, April 6, 2016, reported the widespread leak of three papers — Oral English, Social Studies and Integrated Science — through social media.
The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) followed up on the publication with a statement that said it would not cancel the examination papers that had leaked.
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It stated that the the remaining papers would be taken as scheduled as the council conducted investigations into the issue.
Cellular Phones
Mr Kor reminded depot officers, supervisors and invigilators of the WAEC rules which prohibited the use of mobile phones during examinations.
Teachers’ salaries
In a related development, the Ashanti Regional Directorate of the GES has reacted to claims by a group of teachers calling itself “Victims of Three Month Payment Policy” who picketed at the offices of the GES.
In a statement, the management of GES in the region said teachers’ unions such as the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), and Coalation of Concerned Teachers (CCT) had held series of meetings on the issue with the government on the way forward.
It said currently, the GES, the Audit Service and representatives of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) were at Apam in the Central Region validating more than 60,000 applications of affected teachers nationwide, while 18,803 had been validated with 7,863 out of the number cleared.
Narrowing it down to the Ashanti Region, the statement said the total number of teachers who had applied for salary arrears and whose documents had been submitted to Accra for validation, was 13,087.