TODAY, A total of 552,276 final year Junior High School (JHS) students are writing the 2022 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) which will end on 21 October, 2022.
We are unable to ignore the instances which marred the recent WASSCE and the role some adults and persons responsible for ensuring a hitch-free examination unfortunately played in the mess.
Children cannot initiate examination malpractice overtures. These are originated by adults, persons close to the management of the examinations.
Those writing the ongoing the examination should be spared the trauma and ordeal of cancelled papers and the negative publicity which accompany these.
Those entrusted with the task of managing the examinations should live up to expectation by avoiding the moral blemishes which marred the senior exercise of a previous period.
Those who introduce children to such examination malpractices are doing a great disservice to society.
Morality is about upright life devoid of malpractices in all forms including examinations.
A child who starts his academic career relying on malpractices will definitely face challenges in future, the repercussions of which could impact society in general.
School heads and others who think by scoring hundred percent in BECE or WASCCE stands their schools in a better stead in the comity of educational institutions should rethink stance. After all, they know in their heart of hearts that they do not deserve what they are flaunting.
The integrity of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has never been so challenged as in recent times the reasons for which are not far-fetched.
Moral misfits abound who are ready to sacrifice the good of society by engaging in examination malpractices. To have such unwanted persons in the educational chain system constitutes great concern.
WAEC, fortunately, has been quick to react to the emerging moral challenges. We salute management of the sub-regional examination body for the successes they have chalked so far in calling the bluff of the examination cheats.
With the vigilance that the WAEC has promised during the process, it is our hope that the examination would be uneventful.
While being vigilant, invigilators should encourage the candidates to be relaxed so they can write the examinations bereft of the undue anxiety that could impact negatively on their performance.
While we expect this year’s BECE to be incident-free, we would be quick to add that more stringent punitive measures should be meted out to school authorities and officials who are found to have engaged in malpractices.
Such public examinations constitute important parts of the building blocks for the moral construction of our children, leaders of tomorrow’s Ghana.
Scoring a so-called hundred percent in an examination, which ends up contaminating children morally, should be condemned rather than lauded.
We are encouraged by the words of the Ghana National Association Of Teachers whose General Secretary, in his congratulatory message to the kids, encouraged them to avoid malpractices. This way, they would be saved the embarrassment that comes with the naming and shaming associated with malpractice exposure.
We wish the candidates success.