The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has confirmed the arrest of seven candidates writing the 2026 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) for engaging in various forms of examination malpractice.
Head of Public Affairs at WAEC, John Kapi, told Newsmen that the arrests were recorded across three regions Central, Bono, and Ashanti.
According to him, three of the candidates were apprehended in the Central Region, while two each were picked up in the Bono and Ashanti regions.
Mr. Kapi revealed that five of the suspects were found with mobile phones inside the examination halls, in clear violation of WAEC regulations. Some of the candidates are alleged to have used the devices to capture images of examination questions and circulate them via the messaging platform WhatsApp.
He further indicated that in some instances, answers were reportedly generated using ChatGPT and dictated to candidates during the examination.
The remaining two suspects, though not found with mobile phones, were also implicated in the malpractice network. One was caught distributing pre-prepared answers to candidates, while the other was arrested for reproducing answer sheets intended for circulation.
All seven individuals have since been handed over to the police for further investigations.
Mr. Kapi expressed concern about the growing trend, suggesting that financial motivation may be a key driver behind such acts.
“I think they are enticed by monetary considerations; otherwise, I wouldn’t understand why anybody would want to do this even after all the warnings,” he stated.
WAEC has consistently warned candidates, invigilators, and the general public against engaging in examination malpractice, stressing that offenders risk prosecution as well as the cancellation of their examination results.