Setting Up A Rivalry Exam Body Will Lower Educational Standards � Head of WAEC

Head of West Africa Examinations Council (WAEC), Rev. Samuel Nii Nmai Ollenu has kicked against the proposal by the Minister of Education nominee to create a rival examination body for the country if the need arises.

Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh at his vetting few days ago said there is a possibility of setting a rival body to conduct examinations in Ghanaian schools.

The change according to him would address challenges with the conduct of examinations.

However, Rev. Samuel Nii Nmai Ollenu in an interview with CITI FM news revealed that they as an examining body has tried in various ways to work at this, but talking from the point of view in respect to an educational background, setting up a rivalry body is not recommendable to solve educational problems because when that happens it will make the examination malpractice issues a complex one and then also lower the educational standards in the country.

“We have a number of private universities in the country and had it not been for the presence of National Accreditation Board standards at that level would have fallen so much.

"Currently, we have been interacting with other exams bodies and there is one in the UK that I don’t want to mention and in Nigeria when they heard about the news lamented saying what Ghana has and they are envious off is now what we want to destroy to make our standards fall,” he said.

He continued “So as educational measurement professionals we will recommend that Ghana does not go that way, since exams council provides social service. It is actually not a commercial entity, so the best is to assist exams council to produce its best and not setting up a rivalry institution.”

Referring to Critics who say WEAC wants to monopolize the trend of examination in this country, Mr.  Ollenu indicated that they are wrong to say so because on the educational board government has a strong representation, that the Chairman of the board is the Director General of the Ghana Education Service, the Chief Director of the Ministry of Education is also on the board meaning we don’t regulate everything we do.

His advice to the state Is that “If government wants the exams council to perform at a certain level it can easily be done and we think that the best way to go by this is not to establish a rivalry body but rather support the exams council to provide the best services that the nation requires.”

WAEC has constantly faced criticism for exam leakages in the country. The West African Examination Council (WAEC) was established 1952 after the Governments of Ghana (then Gold Coast), Nigeria, Sierra Leone and The Gambia enacted the West African Examinations Council Ordinances in 1951.

Liberia became the fifth member of the Council in 1974. The enactment of the Ordinances was based on the Jeffrey Report, which strongly supported the proposal for the setting up of a regional examining board to harmonize and standardize pre-university assessment procedures in the then British West Africa.