WAEC suspends 13 schools for examination malpractice in Gombe

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has delisted 13 secondary schools in Gombe State for involvement in examination malpractices.

According to Trek Africa Newspaper, the suspension would be for a period of four years while each school would be expected to pay N500,000 fine.

It was learnt that the suspension was announced by Alhaji Ali Yaya, Director of Examination, Gombe State Ministry of Education at a recent gathering of all state secondary school principals and ministry management.

He said that the development represented a significant setback for the ministry’s efforts to enhance the state’s educational system.

Yaya added that the biggest issue senior secondary schools in the state were facing was examination malpractice; he issued a warning that it must be addressed to prevent more schools from losing their recognition from the testing organisation.

It was observed that the threat of examination fraud has had a negative effect on the overall performance of pupils in the 2022 Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations (SSCE) final results.

Yaya went on to say that in light of the circumstances, the Ministry’s Examination Directorate has warned all school principals to avoid engaging in any kind of examination malpractice.

“From 2018 to 2020, seven of our public senior secondary schools were found to be involved in Exams Malpractice which led to their de-recognition by the WAEC.

“Similarly in 2022, the Ministry received a fresh set of six schools that committed the same offence and they were also de-recognised with a penalty of N500,000 fine per school payable to WAEC.

“The percentage of 2022 result was 55.6 per cent as against 79.5 per cent for 2021 and this is in connection with the examination malpractice recorded in six of our schools,” he said.

He added: “Any principal found wanting again in any form of exams will be seriously punished and the penalty should be paid by the school.”