Bright Simons ‘backs’ Mahama’s WASSCE cheating claims with figures

Bright Simons, a vice president of IMANI Africa, appears to have backed former President John Dramani Mahama’s claim that examination malpractices in West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) have increased under the current government.

Mahama, the flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), was heavily criticised by a section of the public, especially proponents of the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government, after he raised concerns about the authenticity of the 2023 WASSCE results ostensibly due to the massive passes recorded.

Mahama alleged instances of lax invigilation and teacher involvement in student cheating, warning of potential consequences for the country's educational system.

"In many places, they let the children cheat. You go to places, and the teachers are conniving with the students to cheat. The effect will be seen later," Mahama said.

Bright Simons has now provided some figures to show that examination malpractice has indeed increased under the current dispensation.

In a post shared on X on January 4, 2024, Simon indicated that the percentage of WASSCE examination papers that are cancelled has increased under the current government.

The figures he provided showed that less than 0.2% of WASSCE papers were cancelled in 2014 but in 2023 over O.8% of WASSCE papers were cancelled.

This, he said, represents about 600% increase in paper cancellations due to cheating during WASSCE examinations.

“On whether exam cheating is worsening in Ghana, why aren't education stakeholders simply plotting the trends like they do in Nigeria (see attached)?

“We know that cancellations for malpractice in Ghana have increased from 0.13% of results in 2014 to 0.81% in 2023 (600% increase),” he wrote.



View Bright Simon’s post below:

On whether exam cheating is worsening in Ghana, why aren't education stakeholders simply plotting the trends like they do in Nigeria (see attached)? We know that cancellations for malpractice in Ghana have increased from 0.13% of results in 2014 to 0.81% in 2023 (600% increase). pic.twitter.com/QenReckPiK

— Bright Simons (@BBSimons) January 4, 2024