Two tutors held over exam malpractice

Two teachers of the Afua Kobi Ampem Girls Senior High School in Kumasi, Messrs Owusu-Ansah and Abdallah Nasrullah, are in police grips for their alleged involvement in examination malpractice during this year's May/June West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

Mr Owusu-Ansah was picked from his hideout when his name was mentioned by one of the students of the school.

Briefing the Daily Graphic, a Senior Public Relations Officer of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Mrs Agnes Teye-Cudjoe, said during their routine search of students before they entered the examination hall, WAEC officials found one of the candidates, Ms Sandra Odei, with a WAEC answer booklet concealed in her underwear.

According to Mrs Teye-Cudjoe, the booklet contained answers to questions which were the same as those of the Government paper in this year's WASSCE, the paper Sandra was going to write.

The WAEC official said further inquiries revealed that one of the teachers of Government in the school, Mr Owusu-Ansah, had given the students the questions earlier in the morning before they were scheduled to write the Government paper.

She said when Mr Owusu-Ansah was questioned as to how he got the questions, he said someone called him, gave the questions to him on phone and assured him that they were likely Government questions for the examination.

Mrs Teye-Cudjoe said all attempts to get Mr Owusu-Ansah to disclose the name or the telephone number of the person who gave him the questions on phone had proved futile.

Ms Odei, who was also at the WAEC Head Office for questioning, explained that Mr Owusu-Ansah, who was the teacher of Government and very good friend of hers, asked her to call all the students who offered Government to the science laboratory, where he dictated the questions to them.

Mr Nasrullah, Mr Owusu-Ansah and Ms Odei are currently assisting the police in their investigations.