WAEC arrests principals, supervisors, others for Examination malpractice
Twenty officials have been arrested by the West African Examination Council, WAEC, for allegedly aiding and abetting examination malpractice during the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination, WASSCE, for school candidates.
According to the Council, the arrests occurred in various regions of the country.
On Thursday in Lagos, the Head of National Office (HNO) of Council, Mr. Patrick Areghan, disclosed this in conjunction with a monitoring exercise he conducted in several schools.
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According to him, the WAEC has handed all of the perpetrators over to the police for prosecution.
Areghan vowed that the Council would do everything in its power to ensure that their prosecution was pursued to its logical conclusion.
“The issue of exam cheating can no longer be handled with kid gloves.
It is no longer business as usual because our society’s morals and values have been completely eroded. It has reached a dangerous level that, if not addressed, will bring our nation to its knees.
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“Since the beginning of this exam, we’ve deployed our technology designed to catch exam cheaters, and we’re pleased with the results we’ve obtained thus far.
“For example, in Ibadan, Oyo, where we have our zonal office, which handles Osun, Kwara, and Oyo itself, we made three arrests in a school, whose name I will not disclose for reasons of confidentiality.
“There, a centre supervisor, principal, and invigilator were all detained. They were arrested for allegedly photographing and posting examination questions on various platforms, thereby aiding and abetting exam fraud.
Then, in Maiduguri, a school’s supervisor and principal were arrested and turned over to the police.
“In Umuahia, a teacher and a supervisor were arrested and turned over to the police from a specific school.
“In Abeokuta, a school proprietor was the first to be caught on May 8, at the beginning of this examination, snapping and posting question papers,” he said.
Areghan described the act as a scandal of epic proportions.
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The WAEC official reported that the owner and a manager had been arrested and turned over to the police.
In addition, he revealed that a similar incident occurred in Osogbo, where a principal, an invigilator, and a chief supervisor were arrested for the same offence.
According to him, a school supervisor and an examination official who were caught cheating in Kaduna were also arrested and turned over to the police.
He explained that the school, which was ceded to Kaduna because it was closer to Kaduna, was originally designated for Kano.
Areghan stated that arrests would continue until the examination was complete.
He urged candidates not to allow their futures to be jeopardized by individuals who do not wish them well and who promise to help them pass their examinations through illegal means, emphasizing that WAEC examinations could never be accessed illegally.
According to him, all of the perpetrators may have been paid by the candidates and their parents under the pretense of helping them pass the exam.
“I would like to refute the assertion that our examination questions always leak, which is a common claim made by some.
“That is nonexistent. Our examinations are always kept secure until they reach the candidates,” he explained.
He asserted that WAEC examination questions never leak and warned the media to refrain from using the term “leak.”
“When the examination is about to begin, we give the question papers to the supervisors an hour beforehand so they can travel from the collection point to the various schools, where they will administer the exam.
“What occurs?
“As soon as they enter the exam room, they will open the package under the guise of distributing it to candidates, and then they will take photos and upload them to WhatsApp, Instagram, and other designated platforms.
“Such individuals are members of a money-collecting syndicate,” he explained.
According to him, once the examination has begun, anyone who photographs the papers and posts them online will be identified.
Areghan noted that the Council had a method for determining who took the photo, who posted it, to whom it was posted, and to which candidate’s question booklet it was sent.
According to him, at that point the Council takes action by rounding them all up and turning them over to the police.
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