Ashesi kicks against suspension order on 'no invigilators' system

Ashesi University College, a private tertiary institution in Accra is kicking against the suspension of its system that requires no invigilators during exams.

Under the system introduced in 2008, students sign onto an honour code which mandates them not to cheat and each student has a responsibility of ensuring that no one cheats during exams.

A slip is put into the examination booklet of each student which is used to report colleagues who offend the rules.

The system aims at training the students to work with integrity and hold each other responsible, university officials say.

The National Accreditation Board has, however, raised concern about the genuineness of such a programme, directing the school to suspend it.

“We need to be able to tell the sanctity of every examination system and if they are practicing what we don't know about, we have accredited that institution and we ought to be appropriately informed,” Senior Assistant Secretary at the National Accreditation Board Richard Agyei told Joy News.

Mr Agyei dismissed the justification that the system is in operation in other countries and working smoothly; he said Ashesi's move is sheer “market copying of what happens in other systems without taking into consideration what your own circumstances are.”

A student of the school Kwabena, Owusu-Adjei, said the system was implemented after a long debate.

“There was one incident where [someone] reported himself for cheating in an exam room and he was penalized for that,” he said.

Story by Elvis Adjetey and Fiifi Koomson/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana