The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has expressed serious concerns regarding plans by certain institutions to engage in widespread cheating during the upcoming 2024 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

WAEC said according to its intelligence, some schools are reportedly organising schemes where candidates are being charged between GHC200 and GHC500 for “assistance” from invigilators during the exams.

In a statement released by John K. Kapi, the Head of Public Affairs at WAEC’s national office, the Council revealed that the alleged schemes involve assigning teachers to supervise exams for subjects they teach and registering individuals who are not actual students of the schools.

“Supervisors at certain centres are allegedly planning to assign teachers to invigilate subjects they instruct; some schools have even registered individuals who are not their bona fide students,” the statement noted.

WAEC has made it clear that any candidates caught cheating will have their exam entries nullified, and those who manage to bypass security measures will have their entire results canceled if discovered. Additionally, examination centres that do not comply with the rules may be relocated to WAEC-designated centres.

The Council has assured the public that stringent security measures have been put in place to ensure the smooth conduct of the examination. WAEC has also called on all stakeholders, including supervisors and invigilators, to support efforts to maintain the integrity of the examination.

Candidates have been advised to strictly adhere to examination regulations and to be wary of rogue websites that circulate fake questions, which can distract from genuine study efforts.

The 2024 WASSCE commenced with practical and theory papers on Monday, August 19, following the Visual Art Project work conducted from August 5 to 16. The examination is scheduled to conclude on Friday, September 20, 2024.

A total of 460,611 candidates, including 212,954 males and 247,657 females from 1,003 schools, have registered for this year’s WASSCE nationwide.