‘Fire them!’ – Ghana’s Education Minister declares war on exam-cheating teachers as smartphone cheating epidemic spreads.

• Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu orders harsh punishment for teachers involved in exam cheating

• Warns against smartphone-assisted cheating during exams, urges honest academic effort

• Reveals 9 people (including teachers) already punished for 2025 BECE malpractices

• Criticizes previous administration’s focus on “superficial A’s” over genuine education quality

RECOMMENDED ARTICLES

The minister of Education, Honorable Haruna Iddrisu has delivered a fiery speech against the single most debilitating practice that’s not only proved refractory to treatment but sharply sinking the once touted academic excellence of the Ghanaian child—Examination malpractice.

The witty honorable minister, who’s a quintessential academic colossus and knows the importance of genuine academic studiousness, was swift and blunt when he called for the Ghana Education Service (GES)  to prioritize quality education over so-called A’s, which was trumpeted by his former colleague-minister-turned-running-mate—Honorable Matthew Opoku Prempeh (NAPO) — who claimed to have overseen more A’s in his tenure on their campaign trail despite the rampant malpractices that saw many examination papers, like Core Mathematics, on social media platforms such as Facebook days before the said paper in 2020 during COVID.

Omicron Variant Breaks Loose on University of Ghana Campus

As Omicron variant of the virus breaks loose on University of Ghana’s campus and threatens to spread widely in weeks if not days, the honorable minister, in line with the NDC’s resolve to reset the nation in all spheres, did not budge or compromise and was not ready to trade quality education for superficial A’s for hollow party glories.

Speaking at the 25th anniversary celebration of the International Community School in Kumasi, the Minister took a strong stand against what he described as a growing threat to educational integrity, mobile phone-assisted cheating.

“The major threat in the promotion of quality education is a new phenomena of phone cheating”, he said.

The New Phase of Examination Malpractice

Examination malpractice is a decades-old practice, but as the minister rightly noted, the advent of smartphones and social media platforms has made the practice easy and ridiculously accessible to the once out-of-reach corners of society, disrupting the very intricate fabric of students’ conscience, self-belief, and academic rigor.

“When it’s time for exam, you see some of the young girls trying to rely on their phones to assist them…to aid them…to use shortcut to pass. You will not travel far with that. Be guided!” he added.

Parents advised to be responsible

Hon. Haruna was not under any illusion that parents had no role to play in the facilitation of this canker. They were reluctantly invited to the party, and their share fairly served them without bias.

“And to parents, let us be responsible parents. They can do it and they can make it with honesty. Let’s train them with honesty”, he advised.

GES empowered to clip the feathers of Examination Malpractice teachers

The minister revealed that he had empowered the Ghana Education Service (GES) to fiercely clamp down on obstinate teachers who would dare get themselves into any practice that compromises the quality of any examinations.

This comes on the heels of a report that about nine persons, including teachers, have been slapped with various punishments, including a 30-day incarceration, for indulging in malpractice in the just-ended 2025 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).

His concerns and message come at a time that examination Malpractice in and out of the classroom has become the norm with invigilators and supervisors turned oiled vehicles for the seamless propagation of this dent-creating and unpopular practice.

Former GES vrs the New GES

Mr. Haruna ‘s message is in sharp contrast to the untraditional practices of his predecessors in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) who rather sought to restrain the teacher and school authorities while students went feral including indiscriminate indulgence in examination malpractice for superficial gains.

The toothless Bullock — GES — finally appears to have had a professional and determined dentist to fix its fast decaying teeth, and students and teachers will watch with bated breath and apprehension to see if it barks let alone bite should the minster’s productive message go unheeded.

“The other day, I empowered the Ghana Education service to fire and deal ruthlessly with any teacher who is associated with exam malpractice — promoting it, encouraging it or facilitating it. That teacher must suffer the consequence of failing to contribute to the moulding of character for tomorrow”, he minced no words.

You May Also Like…