More than 340,000 candidates will begin the 2019 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) at 707 centres across the country on Monday.

For the first time, school candidates for the WASSCE will be biometrically verified before they will be allowed to enter the examination halls.

The 346,098 candidates from 987 public and private senior high schools (SHSs) will begin with practical and theory papers. The examination is expected to end on June 7, 2019.

Candidates

The number of candidates writing the examination this year, comprising 170,867 males and 175,231 females, is 9.2 per cent higher than the 316,980 candidates who wrote it in 2018.

Biometric verification

A statement signed by the Head of Public Affairs of WAEC, Mrs Agnes Teye-Cudjoe, and issued in Accra last Friday explained that the decision to biometrically verify the candidates before allowing them to enter the examination halls was to nip in the bud the increasing cases of impersonation recorded in school examinations in the past few years.

“The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) wishes to assure members of the public that all the necessary measures have been put in place to ensure that the examination is conducted successfully.

Website operators

“The public, especially candidates, are hereby urged to be wary of the activities of website operators who peddle fake questions on social media, presenting them as authentic papers,” it said.

The council, the statement said, was soliciting the support of all stakeholders, especially supervisors and invigilators, to safeguard the integrity of the examination.

It advised candidates to adhere to the rules and regulations of the examination and refrain from engaging in any form of examination malpractice which could lead to the withholding or cancellation of their results.

The statement assured the candidates that they could pass the examination without cheating.