PROTECT INTEGRITY OF OUR EXAMS (SEPT 19, 2009)

ONCE again the country has been rocked by leaks of some question papers of the West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
The DAILY GRAPHIC is saddened that we do not seem to have a clue to what has become a yearly ritual of examination leaks.
The reported cancellation of the core English Language One and Mathematics paper for the November/December 2009 WASSCE being conducted by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) is another blot on the integrity of our examinations at all levels of education.
This problem is multi-faceted. On one hand, there seems to be a cartel of individuals who have made it a point to profit from these examinations with, of course, the connivance of WAEC officials, parents and students.
On the other hand are the students and their guardians who out of desperation would do anything to get examination papers for their wards because they do not believe in working hard to attain success.
In some other instances, we have received reported cases of even personnel from the WAEC being the conduit of these malpractices.
The DAILY GRAPHIC finds it worrying that in spite of all the reported cases of the modus operandi of these criminals, we have each year failed in our collective responsibility to ensure that this yearly ritual becomes a thing of the past.
It is a pity that students who are being nurtured to be responsible citizens in future would want at their tender ages to look for shortcuts to academic excellence.
One wonders what such persons would become in future and whether they will measure up to any task that would be assigned them based on qualifications acquired by fraudulent means.
The DAILY GRAPHIC is deeply worried that the integrity of our examinations will be called to question if steps are not taken to make cheating a high risk endeavour.
We should worry about the integrity of our examinations in the wake of reports that certain universities in Europe and America do not recognise certificates from certain West African countries. Nationals of such countries have found a safe haven in Ghana for their criminals activities.
It is, therefore, a pity that we are beginning to undermine the credibility of our educational system by these fraudulent examination practices.
There is no shortcut to the attainment of academic laurels because academic excellence can only be achieved through hard work.
The DAILY GRAPHIC calls on the WAEC to critically look at all its processes to ensure that there is zero-leak during its examinations because the cancellation of papers causes unnecessary pain to studious students and their parents.
We suggest that from the printers through to the process of administering the questions, there should be a mechanism which can assure us of the soundness of the examinations.
The DAILY GRAPHIC thinks that it is our collective responsibility as students, parents and guardians and educational authorities to do the right thing and also expose the cheats in the system.
Let our students remember that the only path to academic excellence is hard work because those who decide to use shortcuts fail in their endeavours.