The 2024 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) ends on Friday, July 12, for the majority of its 560,000 candidates, concluding a week marked by reports of exam malpractices.

Throughout the week, the exam was characterised by incidents of malpractice, leading to the arrest of 18 invigilators across various regions for allegedly aiding candidates and violating exam rules.

The West African Examination Council (WAEC) introduced new regulations for the examination, including a prohibition on supervisors from sending mobile phones to the examination centres.

However, some invigilators have violated these rules while others attempted to answer questions for candidates.

Deputy Education Minister, Rev. John Ntim Fordjour, assured the public that measures are in place to identify and discipline teachers involved in the malpractice.

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Meanwhile, Head of Public Affairs, John Kapi, stated that WAEC was considering hiring its own invigilators following the incidents.

According to him, any examination malpractice is wrong as it does not help the Council to properly assess the candidate's potential.

While today marks the end for the majority of candidates, those who studied Arabic have a paper to write.

Joynews correspondent Semefa Kpesu reported that students feel relieved and excited to complete Junior High School education.

Reflecting on the exam process, some invigilators noted that Mathematics and Science were challenging for the students but were manageable.

Another described the overall process as smooth and successful, despite minor challenges in subjects like Creative Arts and Design.

“I hope you all know that this is the first batch of the new curriculum. In fact, it was the Creative Arts and Design; that is where the children had a little challenge because it’s a new curriculum in the system. But on the whole, everything was smooth, peaceful and successful. We didn’t have any challenges,” he said.