Ghana’s Education Minister, Haruna Iddrisu, has ordered the Ghana Education Service to immediately review how examination question papers are transported to exam centres across the country, after a chaotic start to the Basic Education Certificate Examination on Monday.

The trouble began at the Boako examination centre, where question papers failed to arrive on time, throwing the start of the BECE into disarray. A total of 273 candidates drawn from nine schools were left sitting and waiting, answer booklets in front of them, but no questions to answer  while students at other centres had already begun writing their papers some 15 minutes earlier.

When Minister Iddrisu arrived at the centre and saw the situation for himself, he was clearly not pleased. He immediately directed the GES Director-General to work hand-in-hand with the West African Examinations Council to fix the logistics surrounding the delivery of examination materials  and to do so without delay.

“Ordinarily, candidates are supposed to be seated 15 minutes before the examination. However, I see answer sheets here without question papers. They are now on their way. We must therefore review the process of transporting examination questions to centres. Director-General, you sit on the WAEC Council, so we need immediate reforms,” the Minister said.

The incident has cast a spotlight on the reliability of Ghana’s examination logistics chain  a system that thousands of young students depend on at one of the most important moments of their academic lives. For the 273 candidates at Boako, Monday’s delay was more than an inconvenience. It was a disruption they did not deserve on the day of a high-stakes national examination.

Authorities are yet to explain what caused the delay, but the Minister’s directive makes clear that answers  and solutions are expected quickly.

The Ghana Education Service has barred all supervisors and invigilators implicated in last year’s examination malpractice from the upcoming 2026 Basic Education Certificate Examination, as the country prepares for its largest BECE cohort yet.

The Ghana Education Service (GES) has taken sweeping action to purge its invigilation ranks ahead of the 2026 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), officially prohibiting all officials linked to malpractice during last year’s exams from playing any role in this year’s exercise.

The affected supervisors and invigilators — many of whom remain under active investigation — have been barred from all coordination and supervision duties as the GES moves to restore public confidence in the integrity of Ghana’s national examination system.

Addressing a press briefing on preparations for the exams, scheduled to run from May 4 to May 11, Director-General of the GES Ernest Kofi Davis said investigations into the 2025 malpractice cases were nearing completion, with final disciplinary outcomes expected shortly.

“Investigations into the alleged malpractice cases are nearing completion,” Mr. Davis told reporters, adding that the exclusion of compromised officials was essential to ensuring a level playing field for all candidates.

To plug the staffing gap left by the banned officials, the GES has deployed 21,791 vetted invigilators — a figure Mr. Davis said was sufficient to guarantee transparent and credible conduct of the examinations.

Record Candidate Numbers

The crackdown on misconduct coincides with a notable surge in participation. A total of 620,141 candidates are registered to sit this year’s BECE, a 2.7 percent increase over the 603,328 who wrote the 2025 exams. Of the total candidates, 315,792 are girls and 304,349 are boys, spread across 20,395 schools nationwide.

Nationwide Sensitization Drive

Beyond the personnel blacklist, the GES has rolled out a sensitization campaign across all 16 regions of the country, targeting students, parents, and teachers with messaging on the consequences of examination fraud and its long-term damage to Ghana’s education system.

Authorities confirmed that all examination materials and logistics are in place ahead of the May 4 start date, with the Service reiterating its commitment to ensuring that those who undermined the system in 2025 will have no influence over the futures of this year’s candidates.

Team Haruna addresses the student body to formally express its opposition to the declared results of the SRC Presidential election.

This position is based on serious irregularities observed during the voting process, which undermine the credibility, transparency, and fairness of the election.

It has come to our notice that some students who had not cast their votes were, upon accessing the portal, indicated as already voted. This situation disenfranchised affected individuals and raises grave concerns about the integrity of the system.

Additionally, inconsistencies were recorded in the vote count displayed on the portal. In several instances, votes cast did not reflect accurately or update as expected, creating doubt about the reliability of the tallying process.

We also observed procedural lapses. The election, scheduled to commence at 7am, did not begin till 8am and also the portal was inaccessible to many students between 8am and 9am. Furthermore, there are indications that voting activity continued beyond the official closing time, with votes reportedly being recorded after 5pm.

These issues, taken together, compromise the integrity of the electoral process.

In light of the above, Team Haruna:

1. Rejects the credibility of the SRC Presidential election results.

2. Calls on the Electoral Commission to immediately investigate these irregularities.

3. Demands a comprehensive audit of the voting system and records.

4. Urges the Commission to take appropriate remedial action, including possible annulment and rerun when these concerns are validated.

We remain committed to protecting the democratic will of the students and ensuring that every vote genuinely counts.

We call on all stakeholders to stand for transparency, fairness, and accountability.

Signed
Haruna Rashid Yussif
Presidential Aspirant

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