Executive Director of Institute for Education studies (IFEST)Ghana, has cautioned the public and stakeholders in the education sector to refrain from making allegations against the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) without credible evidence, following renewed claims that the examination body is deliberately marking down candidates from private schools.
Speaking on the matter on Morning Target with Ebenezer De-Gaulle, the policy analyst stressed that accusations of sabotage should be backed by verifiable facts rather than speculation.
“It serves no good for us to throw allegations at an examination body without evidence,” he said.
He noted that while he has a personal interest in the issue because his son attends a private school, he has yet to see any proof that WAEC has unfairly treated private school candidates.
Dr. Anti explained that private schools rely heavily on students’ academic performance to attract enrolment, making examination results one of their strongest marketing tools.
As a result, he acknowledged that private school operators would naturally be concerned about anything that could negatively affect their students’ performance.
However, he maintained that concerns alone are insufficient to establish wrongdoing.
“If you say WAEC is sabotaging your school, then put the evidence on the table so that all of us can help you,” he stated.
He revealed that similar allegations had surfaced in previous years but said no concrete evidence had been presented to substantiate the claims.
“Show us the schools and provide a five- or ten-year trend analysis. If performance has dropped from 90 percent to 20 percent, then we can begin to investigate what is happening,” he added.
To ensure a fair assessment of the issue, he called on those making the allegations to identify the affected schools and provide a detailed analysis of their examination performance over the past five to ten years.
According to him, such data should clearly demonstrate whether there has been a significant decline in results over time.
CREDIT: KISSI CHRISTABEL