The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) says it is tightening measures to curb examination malpractice as the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) progresses.

During a monitoring tour of some examination centres, the Head of National Office at WAEC, Dr Rosemond Wilson, explained that the recent rise in reported cases was due to stricter enforcement and closer surveillance.

“One invigilator was in possession of a mobile phone, and invigilators are not supposed to take mobile phones to the examination hall. So we have taken the matter up and we will deal with it,” she said.

“Actually, the mobile phone had a write-up. It had some of our questions for the previous exams they have written, like Picture Making and English Orals. It had some of those questions on it and also answers to the questions.”

The invigilator’s phone was immediately seized, and WAEC has directed that a report be submitted on the matter.

She acknowledged that cases of malpractice appeared to be on the rise but said that WAEC had improved vigilance and cooperation with stakeholders.

“It is a national issue now. So we have called on all our stakeholders to help us to be able to overcome this canker that is now in the system. That is why we see a higher trend this time, because all the stakeholders have gotten involved, and we are going to track down this issue of examination malpractice so that we minimise it to the barest minimum,” she said.

She explained that WAEC was working closely with partners to ensure fairness and discipline during the exams.

“What we are doing is that we have monitors, security services, stakeholders like GES officials and our own officials. We are all over to go around and take proper inspection of the examinations being conducted and make sure that the invigilators and supervisors have instructed the students to adhere to the regulations of the exams.”

Dr Wilson also addressed concerns raised by parents and teachers following the release of the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) results. Some stakeholders had questioned the performance of candidates, but WAEC dismissed suggestions of any fault in the process.

“Actually, there’s no reason to this because the same curriculum was used. The same curriculum that we obtained from GES was used, and the questions were from the same syllabus.

"So there is no reason why they shouldn't perform well, but maybe because of the way they learned for the exams. Because we prepared the same standard marking scheme for them,” she explained.