The West African Examination Council (WAEC) has announced that individuals arrested for infractions during the ongoing Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) are being processed for court.

 In a determined effort to uphold the integrity of the examination, more than nine individuals have been apprehended.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, 9 July, 2024, WAEC underscored that extensive briefing sessions were held with District Directors of Education and Supervisors before the examinations began.

These sessions were designed to familiarise them with the new rules governing the examination process.

“Among other things, the supervisors were informed that they were prohibited from bringing along mobile phones to the examination centres. A stern warning was issued against this practice,” WAEC stated.

Despite these clear instructions, some chose to ignore the directive, leading to their arrest by the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) and locally recruited agents by WAEC, who then handed them over to the police.

At the Save Our Souls Educational Centre in Bekwai, three teachers were apprehended for attempting to assist the candidates.

“They are Patience Serwaah, Oscar Ben Azumah, and Thomas Gyimadu. Other persons who were unrelated to the examination but came around attempting to assist the candidates are Christian Osei and Kyei Baffour Alex,” WAEC revealed.

Further breaches were reported at the Jinijini Senior High School Centre, where two invigilators were caught taking snapshots of the English Language question papers and posting them on a WhatsApp platform named “Koraso Ma JHS.”

Additionally, at Nkoranza Senior High School, an invigilator, Abeam Danso, was arrested with a mobile phone containing answers to the Religious and Moral Education questions.

In Tema, at Chemu Senior High School, a teacher named Amoako Joseph was detained for taking pictures of question papers and posting them on a platform called “Apor Lord for BECE, 2024.”

At the Liberty Hills School centre, an invigilator, Faaweerie Patrick, was caught taking pictures of the Science paper and handed over to the police.

In the Ashanti Region, at Jachie Pramso SHS centre, invigilator Danso Emmanuel was found with a phone in the examination hall, while another invigilator, Mensah Emmanuel, was caught with pieces of paper containing answers to the English Language paper.

At the Santoe Basic School centre, teachers from DESVY International School were discovered on their school bus solving Science questions to transmit to their students in the examination hall. “They are Thomas Ativor, 37, a Twi language teacher, Emmanuel Ammisah, 47, a mathematics teacher, Edwin Goodluck, 39, a Science teacher, and Richard Boateng, 32, a Computing teacher,” WAEC detailed.

WAEC added: “They have all been reported to the police and are being processed for court.”