The Ghana Education Service (GES) has issued a strong warning to teachers and invigilators against engaging in examination malpractice during the ongoing 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
Speaking during the examination period, Deputy Director-General of the GES, Prof. Smile Dzisi, said despite several awareness campaigns, some teachers and invigilators still risk their careers by assisting candidates to cheat.
According to her, some teachers have already been convicted for examination malpractice, stressing that any teacher caught engaging in such acts could lose their job permanently.
“We want to remind them that we’ll catch them and they’ll be in trouble, because so far, we have some teachers convicted for examination malpractice. If you are a teacher and you indulge in examination malpractice and you are caught, that is the end of your career with the GES,” she warned.
Prof. Dzisi stressed the need to protect the credibility of Ghana’s examination system by allowing students to write the exams on their own without external assistance.
She explained that examination malpractice prevents authorities from knowing the true academic performance of students and makes it difficult to improve teaching and learning outcomes.
“Let’s leave them, let them write the examination, and let’s see the true reflection so we can know what to do and how to improve upon whatever we are doing,” she said.
She further urged parents, guardians, teachers and school authorities to support efforts to eliminate cheating from the country’s examination system.
“Let’s say no to exam malpractice. Please, leave the students alone and let them write the examination in peace,” she added.
Prof. Dzisi also described Ghana’s return to the May–June WASSCE calendar alongside other West African countries as a major achievement after five years of operating on a different schedule.
She said the Ministry of Education, GES and the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) worked hard to ensure Ghanaian candidates could once again write the examination with their counterparts across the sub-region.
According to her, the move will help reduce extra costs to the country while keeping Ghana in line with the standard WAEC calendar.
“We are all in line now, and that will not cost the country a lot of money,” she noted.
She expressed confidence that candidates had been adequately prepared and would perform well in the examination.
Meanwhile, Hajia Attah also appealed to invigilators not to assist candidates during the exams or provide unauthorized materials in examination halls.
She encouraged students to rely on their preparation and write the examination honestly.
“We are sure that the children themselves can write and make the grades they deserve,” she stated.
Hajia Attah added that examination malpractice damages the credibility of certificates and can make people question the competence of students.
“We want people to be reassured that all the certificates that we are getting in Ghana are competitive and can be used in other countries,” she said.
