Once again, the nation has been rocked by news of the leakage of some questions in this year’s West African Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
News broke yesterday, that the questions for three of the papers-Oral English, Integrated Science and Social Studies-were circulating on social media networks before the day they were scheduled to be written.
Indeed, the reports indicated that students in some schools in the Greater Accra and Eastern Regions received the questions via their mobile phones between 12 midnight and 4am.
The Times no longer considers as news, the leakage of question papers for examinations organised or supervised by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC).
This is because it has become a perennial problem the nation has had the misfortune to endure. And the WAEC has proved woefully incapable of tackling the problem and solving it.
We are, however, amazed at the attempt by the organisation to shift the problem on to others, and absolve itself of blame.
It seems the body entrusted with the task of organising and supervising examinations is reneging on its responsibility of ensuring the smooth and efficient management of the examinations.
In a press release issued later yesterday, in reaction to the leakages, the WAEC claimed that before the papers were issued from the depots, it had detected a number of different versions of the questions in circulation, but found them to be fake.
It said it was, however, discovered that some of the authentic questions went into circulation after the papers were released to the examination centres.
The Times finds it strange that having noticed that some questions were in circulation, albeit fake, WAEC failed to adopt precautionary measures to safeguard the authentic questions from being leaked.
We also believe the examining body was trying to throw dust in the eyes of the public when it stated that “this foreknowledge was perpetrated through the connivance of some persons engaged for the conduct of the examination and their agents”.
The Times holds that the WAEC has the responsibility to run the examination and cannot in any way, pass the buck to another.
It is simply exhibiting gross dereliction of duty and, thereby, bringing the integrity of its certificates into disrepute.
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