WAEC to Africa Education Watch: No WASSCE paper leaked

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has debunked reports of exam papers leaking in the ongoing 2021 West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

The education think tank Africa Education Watch reported on Friday that questions from the Food and Nutrition Practical 3 examination were in circulation hours before the start of the paper.

However, reacting to the allegations at a news conference on Monday (23 August), the head of WAEC in Ghana, Wendy E Addy-Lamptey, said the report was false.

“The information put out by the EduWatch about the alleged leakage of the Food and Nutrition paper is untrue, is misleading and is creating anxiety among the candidates and our public,” she said.

Credible examination
“Prior to the circulation of this information, one of our heads of division received a call and WhatsApp images of the instructions to the foods and nutrition teacher and the alleged leaked paper from Mr Kofi Asare, CEO of Africa Education Watch.”

Addy-Lamptey explained: “If you look at this document carefully and you read through it, this document was forwarded to schools by WAEC. On 16 August, we forwarded this document to the heads of schools.”

Addy-Lamptey offered assurances that effective mechanisms have been put in place to ensure a credible examination. She also advised students to be extra vigilant about fraudsters online.

“The activities of rogue websites and WhatsApp groups created purposely for cheating have started again. We have a number of them. The latest one is what you see: Smart Wass Hub. These people are out there.

“It’s a WhatsApp group they have asked a lot of the students to join. Students are being asked to pay money – I think they are supposed to pay GHC30 et cetera …

She warned: “[W]e wish to caution all candidates to be careful. [The operators] would deceive them and turn their attention from their books.

“We want to advise all candidates who have joined such platforms to exit them immediately and concentrate on their studies,” she said.