Exposed!Togo, Ghana schools collude to field foreigners for BECE

Investigations have revealed some schools in Ghana have colluded with officials of some basic schools in neighbouring Togo to register foreigners to sit for the ongoing Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE). At least 28 basic schools in Togo and eight schools in Ghana have been found to be engaging in the illegality, a report by The Eagle, led by freelance journalist Charles Amegashie has revealed. Headmaster of Kekeli Preparatory School in Aflao in the Volta region was on Monday, June 10, arrested by security personnel in the area for allegedly registering Togolese for the ongoing BECE. Figures from the report showed that an average of 35 foreign pupils, most of whom are Nigerians, from each of the 28 schools sat for the BECE in Ghana in 2017. This suggests about 1050 foreign pupils were possibly enrolled onto the Free Senior High School, introduced in Ghana by the Akufo-Addo government in September 2017.

The report mentioned Assemblies of God Experimental School (Aflao), Kekeli Complex School (Aflao), Springboard SHS (Accra-Madina), Freedom International School (Aflao), Ebenezer International School (Denu), ECOWAS International School (Denu), NAVS-SHS (Adjen-Kotoku-Accra) and St. Pauls SHS (Denu) as some of the Ghanaian schools engaged in registering foreign pupils for Ghana’s BECE. One Madam Nnena Samuel, owner of Sylvia Modern Senior High and Sylvia Mont Senior High in Togo, is said to have succeeded in registering the schools under Ghana Education Service and secured a WAEC examination centre number. The investigators say they confronted the Ministry of Education in 2018 with the evidence gathered, and though the Minister was said to have expressed interest and scheduled a meeting with them, that did not materialize. The Bureau of National Investigations, according to the investigators, took up the case and requested for more information on the issue for further investigations. However, the investigators said they have since not heard from the BNI, even though they are convinced that the practice is still ongoing and could be getting worse. When editors.3news.com reached the Ghana Education Service for comments on the matter they could readily provide answers, but promised to get the facts and respond appropriately. By editors.3news.com|Ghana