MONROVIA – The Head of the West African Examination Council (WAEC) Liberia Chapter, Dale G. Gbotoe, has underscored the need for the Government of Liberia through the Ministry of Education to implement measures that will ensure the licensing of teachers before they are allowed to enter the classroom.
Officers of the Liberia National Police on Friday, February 7, arrested and subsequently incarcerated a teacher of the G. Edwin Bryant School System located at Barnersville Junction in Gardnerville Township for criminally taking away live examination papers from the St. Peters High School Examination Center in Barnersville where his school was assigned during the conduct of the WAEC Liberia Primary School Certificate Examination (LPSCE) Trial Test, 2020.
In response to the unfortunate incident of examination malpractice at the WAEC Liberia LPSCE Trial Test, 2020, Gbotoe decried the alleged action of teacher Abraham T. Kendima, terming it as unacceptable and embarrassing and, as such, people of his kind should not be in the classroom.
A release issued by WAEC Liberia in Monrovia on Monday, quotes Gbotoe as saying, the licensing of teachers will help curtail some of these unwarranted and unacceptable behaviors on the part of some unscrupulous individuals who are bent on creating more problem for the educational sector.
He said if that is done, it will ensure that those who will be caught carrying out fraudulent acts in the classroom will not only bear the full weight of the law but will also not be permitted to repeat it by revoking their licenses.
Gbotoe then reaffirmed the institution’s preparedness and commitment to drastically deal with anyone who will attempt to carry out any form of examination malpractices before, during and after the conduct of any of its exams in consonance with the laws of the land and the Council’s policy.
He indicated that his office will forward a formal communication to authorities of the G. Edwin Bryant School System, informing them of the Council’s decision to institute punitive measures against the school for the behavior of the students during the conduct of the exam and will also forward a copy of the communication to the Ministry of Education.
Kendima, a 30-year old Math and Science teacher at the G. Edwin Bryant School, according to WAEC Liberia, was arrested after six of his students in the presence of police and staffs of WAEC, admitted that they extracted sheets from the Math and Science question booklets and sneaked them out of the exam hall to him (Kendima), while the exam was being administered. The students were interrogated by staffs of WAEC who discovered that sheets were removed from their booklets.
The WAEC release said the students informed the police that their teacher, Abraham T. Kendima mandated them, days to the exam to rip sheets off the question booklets and sneak them out of the testing center to him so that he could provide them with answers surreptitiously.
Following his arrest, Mr. Kendima, in the presence of the students, journalists and law enforcement officers admitted to the charges levied against him and pleaded for pardon. He said he regrets ever indulging in such an unwholesome and unwarranted act and promised never to repeat same.
Kendima, a resident of the Dry Rice Market Community in Barnersville, also extended apology to the administration of the school, the students, and his family for the embarrassment he has caused them and noted that if WAEC is unwilling to render him pardon, he was prepared to undergo the requisite punitive measure that will compensate for his action.
The action by Kendima contravenes Part II Section 3.1 (a), (b), (c) – Examinations Offences and Penalties (Illegal Possession, Knowledge or use of Examinations papers) of the revised Convention of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) of 2005.
The section states: “Any person who, before or during an examination conducted by the Council, without lawful authority, has in his possession any examination paper, is found to have fore-knowledge of the content of any examination paper, or who makes use of any examination paper or the contents of it in any manner whatsoever, commits an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction.
WAEC Liberia Office in keeping with the Council’s policy administers Trial Test to selected schools in the country for the purpose of preparing them for future exams. Trial Test is the beginning of test development activities at the level of the Test Development Division. Source: LINA
