The West African Examinations Council has been in the news lately, not for good reasons though but for the reasons you and I know- Exams Leakage.

This time, luck eluded them and children of fishermen like me also had some of the leaked questions. The resultant effect was the cancellation of the leaked questions. 

Some of the fishermen here at Oguaa are very angry with the West African Examinations Council. What for? They accuse the examinations body of shifting the goal post just when their sons and daughters have gotten the chance to score.

In more simple terms, they can’t understand why WAEC should cancel the papers only when sons and daughters of fishermen got some of the leaked questions. That is just by the way.

In a swift move, WAEC has stepped up to accept blame for the leakage and has been apologizing at chop bars, drinking pubs, filling stations, flood prone areas and every available space in the country. This apology of the WAEC reminds me of a Cape Coast based pastor.

This Cape Coast based pastor has shepherded his congregation for God knows how long. He preaches almost every time and has converted many who have become more religious than the pastor himself.

This pastor, married to a beautiful wife with three kids has shown the congregation a very good example of who an adulterous man is. The pastor has not only one concubine, not three, not four but six concubines, with many more ‘assets’ (concubines) undisclosed.

Every time, members of his congregation rebuke him for acting directly opposite what he preaches, he apologizes profusely, shed tears and cries unendingly using the frailties of humans as his defence.

Such is the case of WAEC.  WAEC like the Cape Coast based pastor preaches integrity and has its mission and vision that show sanctity and credibility of its examination that are supposed to be paramount and non-negotiable. Just as the preaching of the pastor has converted many in his Church, WAEC’s exams have also caused many in the country to rise to its statuses - including the President of the Republic.

Questions get leaked every year just that they do not spread with the speed of light like this year’s did.

Spearheaded by Social Media, many sons and daughters of fishermen who hitherto never got leaked questions had a fair or unfair share of the deal.   Like what the pastor does when he is caught, WAEC is apologizing copiously for forgiveness to what has become an annual ritual in the country. This year’s got cancelled because it was glaringly conspicuous such that one could even obtained some of the leaked questions from groundnut sellers as a rapper for the groundnuts he or she buys.

The leaks are now becoming a norm and fashionable, never mind the embarrassment it causes to the country that brags of being the continent’s flag carrier in terms of literacy.

Besides the embarrassment, the problem has and continues to poke a huge hole on the credibility of the country’s education system and causes a huge drain on the fiscus as most of these leaked papers have to be reset at a price to the candidates, parents and the WAEC.

The practice has become a prolific business enterprise aided and abetted by corrupt examination officials, supported by parents who will not allow their children to be left out from the Trojan gift of malpractice. The malady seems incurable because virtually all citizens in one way or the other are involved in this educational malaise.

The painful and worrying side of this educational malaise is that the hydra headed monster will facilitate the enthronement of a mediocre, half-baked, incompetent and corrupt workforce ranging from quack doctors and pharmacists to ‘soli-conscious Journalists’, and will lead to massive fraud in banks, the collapse of buildings, and the miscarriage of justice.

What is intriguing is the arrest of teachers who were alleged to have been seen with some of the leaked questions. Millions of questions keep ravaging the minds of my fisherfolks here at Oguaa.

Where did the teachers get these leaked questions? Are they the handlers of the padlocks where these questions are stored? Why haven’t we arrested any WAEC official in connection with this shameful act that surfaces every year in the country?

I am not in any way holding brief for the teachers who condone and continue to meddle in such acts for mere pittance- their acts are as shameful as the adulterous pastor in Cape Coast - but slapping the belly when the cheeks are ordained to receive slaps can really be disgusting sometimes.

Why does this country fear to prosecute officialdom when they are involved in commissions and omissions that dent the image and credibility of the state but rather vent their spleen on the vulnerable?

I remember vividly on the 24th of April this year, the Very Reverend Sam Nii Nmai Ollenu, the WAEC boss, announced to the entire Universe, WAEC’s cheating detection software that will ensure that practices such as have occurred would be detected. How come the software didn’t find the ‘leakers’ of the papers?

I doubt if there is anyone in Ghana who doesn’t know that every year, be it the WASSCE or the BECE, leakages are icings that grace the cake of the examinations. It is just that the affluent and the influential people’s sons and daughters are the beneficiaries of these.  I pray WAEC stops the apologies that are predictable just like in the case of the adulterous pastor in Cape Coast when they repeat their offences.

I pray, we remember that examinations are tools for objectively evaluating and assessing students’ learning outcomes, ability to demonstrate knowledge, understanding and potential for other employment skills development. Actions and practices that undermine the credibility of examinations pose a serious threat to the quality of the education system and the attainment of its goals.

This malaria parasite ravaging our educational sector can only be eradicated by a national consciousness. Finding the culprits at WAEC can help seal ‘the potholes’ that have inundated our examination system.

The writer, Richard Kwadwo Nyarko, is a broadcast journalist with JOY 99.7 FM. Email: quajo2009@gmail.com. Twitter: @quajo2009. Facebook: Like my page, Richard Kwadwo Nyarko.