By mohamedj.bah@awokonewspaper.sl
SIERRA LEONE, Freetown – For the past five years or so, the rate of examinations malpractices in the West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination ( WASSCE) has been very alarming and this year’s exams is not an exemption.
The 2022 WASSCE has also unfolded with series of examinations prohibited acts, from Freetown, right to the provinces, involving pupils, teachers, exams supervisors and some ordinary Sierra Leoneans as well.
The act has been seen by some unscrupulous people as an easy means of making money, while some lazy pupils just wanting to gain admissions to the University without crossing such a test with the use of their brains.
But the Anti-Corruption continues to clamp down the wrong in society, that are trying to wreck our educational system.
The Scorpion Squad of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Thursday 9th June 2022, conducted series of raids at various examination centres and arrested the Principal of Shamsierra Secondary School, White Tank, Rokel, Western Rural District, and 19 candidates writing the English Language paper for the West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) 2022.
Six WASSCE candidates were arrested at the King Fahad Islamic Secondary School, Wellington, Freetown, while 13 candidates were arrested at the War Wounded Secondary School, Kossoh Town, Western Rural District.
And the candidates arrested at the King Fahad Islamic Secondary School were writing their exams in two special rooms provided by the school authorities, while those at the War Wounded Secondary School were writing their exams in a private residential house situated at No 1 Turay Drive, Kossoh Town. 30 mobile phones which were in the possession of the candidates writing the exams were confiscated.
The phone of the Principal of the Shamsierra Secondary School after being confiscated by the Scorpion Squad showed the said Principal created several Whatsapp groups to share examination questions and answers with WASSCE candidates.
And according to ACC a similar raid was made in Kambia, North-West region, where they confiscated an additional 34 phones which were in the possession of WASSCE candidates writing the exams at the Kambia Islamic Secondary School. Candidates with BRS codes for Shamsierra Secondary School were found writing their examination at the said Kambia Islamic Secondary School.
They also stated that the attendance list at the said school also showed that 74 candidates were absent for the exams.
And prior to that, similar raids were conducted at the Moses Academy International School in Deep-Eye Water, where the Proprietor of the school and WASSCE candidates were arrested for examination malpractices.
It is not clear how many more will be caught before the exams end. The question many are asking is under which laws will the perpetrators be prosecuted and how severe is the punishment to act as a deterrent? MJB/13/6/2022
