The Executive Director of the Institute of Education Studies, Dr. Peter Anti, has identified societal pressure as a major factor fueling examination malpractice in Ghana.
Speaking on JoyNews’ AM Show on September 8, Dr. Anti said the problem is complex and cannot be attributed to a single cause. His comments followed reports that some Ghana Education Service (GES) officials allegedly colluded with investigators and collected GHS 60 from candidates to facilitate cheating during examinations.
“If you look at the literature on examination malpractice, you would realise that the issues or the factors that contribute to this are multifaceted. There are a lot of factors. You cannot single out one factor and say this is the reason why people would want to engage in malpractice. If it was like that, then it would have been easy to deal with. But because the motivations are varied, it becomes difficult for us even to tackle the problem as we continue to face it,” he explained.
High Stakes, High Pressure
Dr. Anti pointed to societal expectations as a key driver, noting that students face immense pressure to secure placement in top schools.
“Every student would want to enter one of the best schools in the country, and that pressure alone means that the school would have to help that particular student in order that his aim or objective would be achieved,” he said.
He added that schools themselves benefit from such practices, as stellar results enhance their reputation.
“In helping that student, the school also benefits because that particular school would be projected as a school where all students get, as they normally say, ‘100 percent.’ I used to teach in a private school — that is a big deal. When we go for meetings, our proprietor will say, ‘this school, we always score 100 percent.’ So it is a big deal for the school, it is a big deal for the students, it is a big deal for the parents,” he recounted.
Parents and Stakeholders Involved
According to Dr. Anti, parents are also complicit, often seeking shortcuts to avoid the stress and financial burden of lobbying for placements.
“The parents do not want to stress. You wouldn’t want to go and beg people or pay huge sums of money for a child to be placed in a particular school. So if I can get my ward to go round the system and pass once and for all, why wouldn’t I do that?” he asked.
He further revealed that even Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) executives sometimes accompany candidates during exams, which, though not inherently wrong, reflects how deeply entrenched malpractice has become.
“Sometimes PTA executives accompany these kids and are with them throughout the week. I am not saying it’s a bad thing, but I always feel that there is something that they also want to contribute to that particular process that we are complaining about,” he said.
Passing at All Costs
Dr. Anti concluded by warning that the strongest motivation behind examination malpractice remains the intense desire to see students excel, a pressure that pulls in parents, teachers, schools, and entire communities.
“Basically, the biggest amongst them is the motivation to ensure that the student passes—and passes well. In doing that, all these individuals, all these stakeholders, and all these actors are brought in to help the student get the grade that they would want to obtain,” he stated.
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