The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) says it intensified efforts with the Ghana Education Service (GES) to eliminate examination malpractice in the 2026 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).

Head of Public Affairs at WAEC, John Kapi, said the two institutions implemented a number of initiatives before the examination to discourage candidates from engaging in dishonest practices.

Discussing the outcome of the 2026 BECE on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Monday, June 3, Mr Kapi said WAEC and GES embarked on public education campaigns to encourage students to rely on their own abilities and write the examinations honestly.

He added that traditional and religious leaders were also engaged to speak to parents and candidates about the need to protect the integrity of the examination process.

"First of all, we decided to launch a crusade against exam malpractice. We held stakeholder engagement across the country. We have also met with some traditional authorities to try and encourage people within their jurisdiction to stay away from this act of cheating," he said.

"The Ghana Education Service was also very helpful; they also deployed a lot of monitors across the country to ensure that cheating was reduced to the barest minimum," added.

READ ALSO: 2026 BECE results released; over 3,600 absent as thousands await final verdict

According to him, these measures contributed to a significant reduction in reported cases of examination malpractice compared to previous years, and they are hopeful that "as the years go by, we would be able to nip it in the bud completely."

"So I think that the crusade that we launched together with the amount of monitoring that we did was what helped us to drastically reduce the number of people who may have wanted to engage in this dangerous act," he noted.

He noted that the collaboration between WAEC, GES and other stakeholders would continue as part of efforts to safeguard the examination system.

A total of 620,243 candidates from 20,789 schools registered for the examination. They comprised 304,415 males and 315,828 females. The figure included 136 candidates with visual impairment, 282 with hearing assessment needs and 510 candidates with other test accommodation needs.

The examination was conducted at 2,237 centres across the country.

WAEC said 3,601 registered candidates were absent from the examination.