Examination malpractice is a serious problem in Ghana. It’s the single most dangerous thing that will eventually collapse Ghana’s economy and render the political establishment ineffective.

Examination malpractice will eventually destroy the nation

It’s said that destroying any nation doesn’t require the use of atomic bombs as witnessed by the US barbaric bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki or the use of long range missiles as witnessed in Russia’s onslaught on Ukraine. If it did, Japan would be in oblivion or would be wallowing in poverty by now and Ukraine will cease to exist in the near future.

But destroying any nation entails lowering the quality of education and allowing cheating in examination by students.  Patients die at the hands of such doctors; buildings collapse at the hands of such engineers; money is lost at the hands of such economists and accountants; humanity dies at the hands of such religious scholars; justice is lost at the hands of such judges. The collapse of education is the collapse of a nation.

The free SHS and its horrible implementation

Since the introduction of the free SHS, the minister of education and Director General of Ghana Education Service (GES) have tried to not only make education accessible to all Ghanaians but also enhance its quality. Ironically, the measures taken by GES so far are gradually killing the quality of education in the country.

Some of the colossal mistakes taken towards the free SHS are “no cutoff point admission” which is eroding the spirit of competition among students, no repetition for poor performance, failure or truants, enforcement of corporal punishment abolishment which has emboldened the student nowadays.

But what is strikingly shocking is the so-called “performance contract” GES signs with its regional directors who in turn demand same from district directors and down to headmasters.

At a glance, it may appear innocuous that an employer expects better from an employee but the question is “at what cost”?

Director General signs Performance contract with 16 Regional directors

All the 16 Regional Directors of Education have signed Performance Contract with the Director- General, Professor Kwasi Opoku Amankwa.

By extension, it is expected that the Regional Directors will sign same contract with the District Directors and then, The District Directors will also sign the Performance Contract with Heads of Senior High Schools.

This so-called contract has forced regional directors to ignore malpractice in their regions, district directors to ignore cheating in their districts and headmasters to join forces with like-minded invigilators to cheat in examinations believing that they’re helping their students, but at the expense of their nation. Ironic, isn’t it?

Who were present at the performance contract ceremony?

The brief ceremony brought together the Deputy Director General in Charge of Quality and Access, Dr. Kwabena Bempah Tandoh, Head of  the Public Relations Unit, Ms Cassandra Twum Ampofo and Mr. Robert  Intseful , Budget Officer.

Has GES signed a Quality Assurance contract and anti-leakage contract with WAEC?

It is no secret that WAEC examinations leak at an unspeakable rate nowadays given the abundance of current technologies, especially social media. However, it appears GES is not interested in ensuring quality and malpractice-free examination but only the “cheap grades” students have to offer.

Today, it’s common to meet students with grade A1-B3 in English yet lack control over basic grammer. Many Ghanaian students have problems with their tenses yet, somehow, they  manage to grasp a top-notch grade in English.

The problem is no different from mathematics. With a lot of students struggling to even handle basic arithmetic and algebraic expressions, many complete with A1-B3. It’s no surprising many students opt not to further their education but go on to pay bribes to get into the security service. The question is, does Ghana need a lot of servicemen like the way embattled countries like Israel do?

Students pay teachers to write their examinations for them

Many teachers across the country believe that this so-called performance contract between GES and Heads of schools push heads of schools to either covertly or overtly support malpractice.

It’s simple. The teachers involved need money. The candidates need “cheap grades”. The heads of schools, district and regional directors of Education also have to prove that they’ve indeed lived up to the bill. That’s, they have ensured the success of their part of the bargain. So GES, a political arm of the incumbent government close her eyes to examination malpractice every year creating corroded JHS and SHS graduates who can barely put tenses together. 

Prof. Stephen Adei knows that many Ghanaian students with good grades know nothing

On Citi tv during a program called footprint hosted by Samuel Attah-Mensah, Prof. Adei, former rector at GIMPA , told the host point blank that many students who attended his SHS came with very good BECE grades in math, science, English etc yet a high percentage could hardly write their name let alone do basic arithmetic.

According to the learned professor, he had to re-educate all of these children through his “intensive program” before promotion to SHS 1.

What exactly is in the Performance Contract?

If you’re wondering what exactly the performance contract entails, then you’re not alone. I’m with you in spirit. Potent questions that bang on the door include:

(1) Does GES have a way to ensure that no regional or district director or head of school result to malpractice to meet the set target? Because it’s funny how a piece of paper called certificate is valued over the child’s ability to think and solve problems on his/her own.

(2) Does GES take staunch interest in ensuring malpractice free examination or all is left at the mercy of WAEC, a failed examination body which is bedeviled with countless malpractice scandals?

(3) Does the contract overtly or covertly order heads of schools to ensure that no student fails despite all odds? It sounds scary, to say the least.

As quality of education goes down yet students somehow manage to pluck good grades from wonderland, we can only keep quiet, fold our arms and watch as our politicians’ silence becomes more louder.

God have mercy on us all.