WAEC Shuts One SHS Centre, Relocates Candidates to Kumasi Office Over Exam Malpractice

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has shut down the Adventist Day Senior High School (ADSHS) examination centre in Kumasi and relocated all candidates to its Ashanti regional office following reports of widespread malpractice.

According to Asaase 99.5, the development was disclosed on Thursday, 4 September, during a monitoring exercise of ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) centres in the Kumasi metropolis, led by the Mayor, Richard Ofori Agyemang Boadi. The move, officials explained, was to protect the credibility of the examinations.

In total, 936 candidates scheduled to write the English Language paper at ADSHS were bused to the WAEC regional office, where the test was conducted under strict supervision.

Speaking on the incident, Kumasi Metro Director of Education, David Oppong, described the situation as “very unfortunate” but stressed the need for stronger vigilance.

“This has come to the attention of the regional director and we are yet to do our investigations … For now, the students have been bused to the WAEC centre to take the examination. The advice to invigilators and supervisors is that they have to be extra careful. If we continue to allow and encourage these things in our schools, it means we are destroying the nation,” Oppong cautioned.

He added that strict adherence to WAEC’s code of conduct and rules would be enforced to curb malpractice.

This year, more than 15,000 candidates from 14 state-run senior high schools in Kumasi are sitting for the WASSCE. The Kumasi Mayor visited several schools on Thursday to encourage the candidates and assure them of the integrity of the process.

Examination malpractice has long plagued Ghana’s education system. In 2024, WAEC cancelled results at multiple centres across the country after uncovering similar breaches.