A teacher within Montserrado District # 12 has been arrested and subsequently incarcerated by officers of the Liberia National Police for examination fraud.
The teacher, Mr. Abraham T. Kendima 30, of the G. Edwin Bryant School System located at Barnersville Junction in Gardnerville Township criminally took away live examination papers from the St. Peters High School Examination Center in Barnersville where his school was assigned during the conduct of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) Liberia Primary School Certificate Examination (LPSCE) Trial Test, 2020.
Mr. Kendima, who teaches Math and Science 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 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.
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 that “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.
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 who is 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.
In response to the unfortunate incident of examination malpractice involving a classroom teacher on the WAEC Liberia Primary School Certificate Examinations (LPSCE) Trial Test, 2020, WAEC Liberia Head of National Office (HNO) Dale G. Gbotoe decried the action of Mr. Kendima, terming it as unacceptable and embarrassing and as such, people of his kind should not be in the classroom.
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The WAEC boss then indicated that there is a need for the government through the Ministry of Education should begin licensing teachers before they are allowed to enter the classroom in order to curtail some of these unwarranted and unacceptable behavior on the part of some unscrupulous individuals who are bent on creating more problem for the educational sector than good.
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 brunt of the law but will also not be permitted to repeat it by revoking their licenses.
Mr. Gbotoe used the occasion to reaffirm 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 land and the Council’s policy.
He indicated that the 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 measure against the schools for the behavior of the students during the conduct of the exam and will also forward copy of the communication to the Ministry of Education.
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.
