Final year students preparing to sit for the West African Senior Secondary Certificate examination (WASSCE) are being charged monies by teachers and authorities of their schools to provide them with ‘apor’ during the sitting, to aid them sail through, Kapital News’ Sani Abdul-Rahman has uncovered.
Charging illegal monies from students preparing to sit for WASSCE to provide them assistance is allegedly being normalized at some Senior High Schools (SHS) in Kumasi, the capital of Ashanti Region.
The monies charged them according to information gathered by Sani range from 50 to GHS 200 depending on the school.
A female SHS student in Kumasi who spoke to us on condition of anonymity revealed how much her school is charging for the corrupt aid provision.
“For our school, we are paying the money according to subjects. We will pay GHS 40 for Mathematics and General Science, she noted.”
The young lady, herself, a culprit, was a bit reluctant to answer some of the questions because she was afraid of being troubled at school when exposed. When pushed further, she revealed that the administration had asked students to pay an additional GHS 50 to bribe external invigilators in case a student is caught with a foreign material while sitting for the exams.
“The administration together with our teachers asked us to pay GHS 50 so that when anyone is caught in any malpractice by external invigilators, the matter will be settled with the money, she stated.”
Whiles investigating the corrupt practices surrounding the WASSCE sitting, a teacher who wants to remain anonymous, pointed that even the Basic Education Certificate Education (BECE) is not an exception in this act.
“I was given an envelope containing money by the students and they said it was from their teachers and when I asked why, there was no good explanation so I summoned their teachers and threatened to report them if it reoccurs again, he narrated.”
An educationist Max Nyamesem however blames the students as the initiators of the corrupt practice by raising monies and attempting to bribe teachers assigned to invigilate them.
“These things are started by the students and not the teachers, and in most cases the school authorities are not even aware, he noted”.
However the Education Minister Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh during his vetting pledged to reform the sector to ensure the issue of malpractice is nabbed in the bud.
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