2024 BECE: 33 exam officials were arrested for infractions

This year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) has ended nationwide with 33 examination officials arrested for various infractions. 

Out of the 33 picked up, 19 were teachers who were supervisors and invigilators. 

Speaking to the GNA via a telephone interview in Accra, Mr John K. Kapi, Head of Public Affairs, West African Examinations Council (WAEC), said three of those picked up had nothing to do with the examination.  

According to Mr Kapi, those picked up for breaching WAEC ‘s regulations were being processed for courts. 

He noted that the Council at some of the examination centres, found 10 candidates who had mobile phones on them.

According to him, those mobile phones had been seized and handed over to the Police, adding that WAEC would apply sanctions against them. 

He said generally, this year’s BECE had been successful because the Council was able to send examination papers and answer booklets to the right places at the right time. 

Mr Kapi said areas such as Sekyere Afram Plains were able to receive examination materials on time through the use of drones. 

He said the Council also catered for people with special needs.

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Despite the successes, Mr Kapi said the Council was disappointed in the unprofessional behaviour of some invigilators and supervisors. 

“An invigilator was found assisting candidates through the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI),” he said. 

Going forward, Mr Kapi said WAEC would put in more stringent measures to weed out invigilators and supervisors with bad behaviours and attitudes. 

He called for strict application of sanctions against teachers who breached the Council’s regulations.

This year’s BECE started on July 8 with 569,095 candidates writing English as their first paper. 

In all, 19,506 schools participated in the exams. 

The Council employed 2,123 supervisors, 1, 889 assistant supervisors and 19, 973 invigilators for the smooth running of the examinations. 

The Council among others banned the use of mobile phones by supervisors, invigilators and candidates in examination halls.

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