The West African Examination Council (WAEC) says its Foods and Nutrition Practical examination paper three in the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) did not leak.
At a press conference in Accra, Mrs. Wendy E Addy-Lamptey, Head of National Office WAEC, said: “We wish to state emphatically that the information put out by African Education Watch, an education Think tank also known as Eduwatch about alleged leakage of Foods and Nutrition 3 is untrue, misleading and creating anxiety among the candidates and our public.
Mrs. Addy-Lamptey said prior to the circulation of the piece of information, one of the Heads of Division received a call and WhatsApp images of the “Instruction to the foods and Nutrition Teacher” and the alleged leaked question paper from Mr. Kofi Asare, CEO of Africa Education Watch.
She indicated that the said leaked paper was “Instructions to the Foods and Nutrition Teacher distributed to heads of Schools on August 16 this year to teachers prepare for the conduct of the actual paper which took place on August 20, this year.
“The paper clearly contains only guidelines as you can all see and was in the public domain, hence it could not be referred to as leaked on August 19, this year.”
Explaining further, Mrs. Addy-Lamptey said while the actual paper requested candidates to prepare, cook and serve three course meal for an ulcer patient, the purported leaked question paper received from Eduwatch requested for a two course meal for a lactating mother.
“Furthermore, the screenshot question paper forwarded to us by Eduwatch was full of spelling and grammatical errors and that could certainly not have emanated from WAEC,” she added.
The Head of National Office said, the council was at a loss to the real intention behind Edu watch’s actions adding, “Much as we appreciated the need for all stakeholders to be interested in preserving the integrity of our national examinations, we must ensure that we do the necessary due diligence before issuing any reports, which have the tendency to mislead the public, cause unnecessary anxiety and undermine the credibility of examination.”
According to her, if care was not taken, reputation of the institution and the nation as a whole could be irreparably damaged in the eyes of international community and Ghana’s candidates would be disadvantaged.
She said WAEC welcomed feedback which would help the council to its correct and improve on its action
However, she noted that, “reckless circulations such as this create needless pressure on WAEC, candidates, parents and our results for the admission of Ghanaians into tertiary institutions may doubt the credibility of our certificates making the Ghanaian child the ultimate loser.”
According to her, WAEC would soon commence action against Eduwatch following those misleading reports.
Mrs. Addy- Lamptey however commended some media houses “matured approach” of cross checking with the council when they received contentious information and also entreated all stakeholders to be circumspect in their reportage. “Let us not create unnecessary tension, fear and panic.”
African Education Watch (Eduwatch) is said to have disseminated a report on social media on August 20, this year, to wit: “Today’s Foods and Nutrition Paper 3 which was scheduled for 1:30 pm was leaked on social media at 6:00am yesterday and yesterday at 11:06 am today.
We reported to WAEC at 11:10 am and we can now confirm it indeed a genuine leak. The practical paper has just started at the centres. Eduwatch is monitoring WASSCE with the support of OXFAM, and will continue collaborating with WAEC to improve accountability in Education Assessment Sector.”
