Three candidates of Serwaa Nyarko SHS in Kumasi have failed to participate in the ongoing West African Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

According to the Assistant Headmaster, Rev. Richard Benson, says attempts by the school to reach two of the candidates have not been successful.

Some 792 candidates registered for this year's WASSCE at Serwaa Nyarko Senior High School.

In an interview with JoyNews, he said "Out of the 792, three are absent. One of the absentees has travelled outside the country, but for two, we do not know why.

"So currently we have 789 students sitting," he said.

Rev. Benson also noted that no examination malpractice has been recorded yet.

"We realised that the students move out frequently during the paper, so we had to restrict them," he said.

Meanwhile, WAEC has announced the arrest of six teachers and invigilators for engaging in various examination malpractice activities.

According to WAEC, the teachers were arrested along with a large number of students from both public and private schools across the country during the first week of the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

“In terms of teachers, I can say so far, we have about six of them who have been picked up for various offenses. 

“The candidates are a lot with them. It is not easy to give the number right now. We are still putting together the figures, and as and when we are able to compile the list, we will be able to put out the figure.”

Speaking to JoyNews, the Head of Public Affairs at WAEC, John Kappi, said the six arrested teachers were caught writing answers for candidates and committing other infractions.

“We have picked up in some of the areas where we were told that they wanted to collect money, and then assist the candidates. We have realised that there has been a lot of... We set our monitors around -  there were actually widespread examination malpractices. 

“They were able to pick up a number of them. In fact, it's overwhelming. We have looked at the numbers, and basically, it's about them having foreign material on them and then, in some cases, there's a report about them writing on the board for the candidates to copy,” he said.

Mr Kappi assured that all those involved would be punished according to the rules governing the examination.