Some officials of the Ghana Education Service (GES) colluded with invigilators, accepting as little as GH¢60 to allow candidates to cheat in the 2025 Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE).
This revelation is contained in the latest JoyNews Hotline documentary, Dark World of BECE, produced by GH Probe investigative journalist Francisca Enchill.
At the Derby Avenue RC Basic School in Accra, investigators found that invigilators were promised GH¢60 daily to look the other way as candidates smuggled mobile phones into examination halls, used artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT and even received solved questions directly from officials.
The probe also uncovered that at St. George’s Anglican, supervisors distributed envelopes containing GH¢400 to invigilators, while candidates themselves were instructed to make daily payments.
By the final paper, invigilators had even introduced an “Aseda Offertory,” where students contributed at least GH¢5 each in appreciation, with the pooled funds shared among invigilators.
“Any payment that is made in the course of the examination to an invigilator or supervisor is illegal. It is not coming from WAEC.
“WAEC does not pay money in the course of the examination. We don’t do that,” said John Kapi, Head of Public Affairs at the West African Examinations Council (WAEC).
The investigation revealed that malpractice was carefully organised: invigilators dictated answers, circulated handwritten and printed solutions, and collected the evidence before candidates left the halls.
Supervisors acted as lookouts against WAEC and National Security officials, ensuring malpractice went undetected.
Civil society voices have warned that this culture of collusion is grooming children to see corruption as normal.
“We’re teaching children corruption in basic schools. Corruption 101 begins here. They grow up to normalise it, producing corrupt citizens and professionals,” Kofi Asare of Africa Education Watch said.
Acting Director-General of GES, Prof. Ernest Kofi Davis, stressed that staff caught aiding malpractice would not be spared.
“We cannot work with staff who cheat. Why keep someone who carries questions to students in an exam hall instead of teaching them in class? Nobody wants to be operated on by a doctor who cheated their way through. We must stop this.”
In 2025, WAEC recorded 43 arrests nationwide for malpractices, including supervisors, teachers and administrators. The Council says that with adequate resources, it could recruit invigilators of higher integrity to curb the menace.
Full documentary airs on Monday, 8th September 2025 on JoyNews’ AM Show, Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, and Joy Prime’s Prime Morning.