A former Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Charles Aheto-Tsegah, believes divorcing the Ghana Education Service (GES) from the West African Examination Council’s (WAEC) governing committee, as recommended by the Africa Education Watch, will create more problems.
As part of eleven recommendations proffered by the education think tank, after it conducted thorough research and investigation into the 2020 WASSCE, Africa Education Watch wants the government of Ghana to take steps to divorce GES and the Ministry of Education from WAEC’s Governing Committee.
This, according to them, will prevent all forms of conflict of interest.
But the former GES head disagrees with this recommendation.
“I have looked at the recommendations. I think they are good, and it will be refreshing to see them implemented. My issue of concern, however, has to do with the proposal for GES to be divorced from the WAEC governing committee.”
He argued that “WAEC depends on the entire education sector to function, and divorcing them will create problems.”
More recommendations by the Africa Education Watch
Africa Education Watch on Wednesday, June 16, 2021, launched its 2020 WASSCE Report.
According to the Executive Director of African Education Watch, Kofi Asare, the research was triggered by the “gravity of malpractices witnessed in the 2020 West African Secondary Schools Examination and the unprecedented leakage of names and contacts of examiners and questions for all but two subjects.
Some more recommendations they gave to help address the flaws and improve the large-scale pre-tertiary assessment processes are;
1. Investigate and Prosecute Offenders
2. Regulate WAEC: The Ministry of Education must set up a Regulator of Assessments, like OFQUAL in the United Kingdom.
3. Digitize the question distribution system
4. Reinforce ban on the use of mobile phones
5. Strengthen and publicize prosecutions
6. Break the WAEC Monopoly
7. Engage external consultants to speed up investigations into alleged malpractices
8. Ministry of Education should ensure timely release of funds to WAEC
9. Review Assessment Methods
10. Conduct a nationwide anti examination malpractices campaign
The report noted that the malpractices and violent events of the 2020 WASSCE examinations are an accumulation of issues in the system that have been overlooked, and that total reform is needed to fix the assessment system.
