For 11 years, we haven’t used BECE– Prof. Adei on school’s admission policy

Renowned educationist, Prof. Stephen Adei, has revealed that his institution, Ghana Christian International High School, stopped using the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) as an admission requirement over a decade ago due to concerns about its credibility.

According to Prof. Adei, the decision was prompted by the pervasive issues of examination malpractices and cheating within the BECE, which he believes fail to provide an accurate assessment of students' academic abilities.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show during a discussion on the Hotline Documentary: Dark World of BECE, Prof. Adei said, “For 11 years, Ghana Christian International High School in Accra has not used BECE as an entrance requirement because we don’t trust it.”

His comments come in the wake of a JoyNews Hotline investigation, led by GH Probe’s Francisca Enchil, which exposed how some officials within the Ghana Education Service (GES) and examination supervisors were complicit in turning the BECE into an organised crime syndicate.

Investigators uncovered shocking evidence of widespread corruption at two examination centers in Accra, Derby Avenue RC Basic School and St. George's Anglican Basic School where invigilators were caught demanding bribes, and supervisors were seen pocketing large sums of money. Students were even asked to contribute to an “Aseda Offertory.”

Despite ongoing efforts by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to combat these issues, such as deploying monitoring teams, Prof. Adei argued that the problem remains deeply entrenched.

He noted that while WAEC attempts to address cheating, corruption among invigilators and the public's disregard for academic integrity continue to undermine the system.
“I must say that WAEC has been trying to catch up; there is a catch-up game. It seems the things are entrenched and always the things happen before they try. For example, deploying monitoring teams, some of whom have also been corrupted; arrest and prosecution of only a few; cancellation of results… so they are trying, but there are many against the tide,” he said.

Prof. Adei, a former Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), pointed out that cheating in schools is a direct reflection of wider societal moral decay. He cited the pervasive corruption in politics, illegal mining (galamsey), and the breakdown of family values as contributing factors.
“What is happening is a reflection of the moral degradation or degeneration in our society. When you see politicians openly bribing their way, giving money in the open to everybody else. When we see galamsey, people say that 'so long as we get money, even if we poison the whole nation, we don’t care'. Corruption in the public sector, the decadence in the homes, because it’s parents who are sponsoring these,” he stated.

He stated that the root cause of cheating and other societal ills lies in the intense pressure to succeed at all costs, even dishonestly.
“Now the question is why? There are a lot of ills in our society and pressure to perform, and, irrespective of how you do it. So people now have a lot of mansions they cannot explain and cars that their income does not support. And that is going down into the schools to say that once you achieve, irrespective of how, society will recognise you. Then there is a very big problem which the World Bank in 2016 called schooling without learning,” Prof. Adei warned.

According to Prof. Adei, the quality of education at the basic level is further compounding this issue, noting that many public primary schools are failing to provide students with a solid foundation. He contrasted this with countries like Togo, where children are typically literate by the second year of primary school.
“Our primary schools in the public sector; practically, the children go through school totally illiterate. If you go to a place like Togo, by the second year in primary school, every child is literate."

"And if it is not addressed, these people will therefore go through and will have a way of getting some certificates anyway. And because of that, most of the children have very poor study habits,” he explained.