The Member of Parliament for Pru East Constituency in the Bono East Region, Emmanuel Boam, has accused the former Akufo-Addo administration of deliberately creating conditions that allowed widespread examination malpractices during the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), allegedly to boost pass rates under the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) programme.

Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, December 2, 2025, Mr. Boam claimed that weakened supervision and a compromised examination environment under the previous government enabled students to pay what he described as “examination support levies” that facilitated cheating.

He also alleged that some candidates were permitted to enter examination halls with mobile phones.

According to the MP, these practices artificially inflated WASSCE performance figures, creating the public perception that the Free SHS policy had delivered exceptional academic outcomes.

“There hasn’t been any organised and well-orchestrated examination malpractice than what we saw under the past government,” he asserted.

“It was properly coordinated between institutions that were compelled to align.”

Mr. Boam criticised the practice of evaluating headteachers solely based on their schools’ WASSCE performance, despite many lacking the basic logistics, infrastructure, and state support needed to run their institutions effectively.

“How do you tie the rating of schools to WASSCE results and threaten headteachers with removal when they lack the basic resources to run their institutions?” he asked.

Expanding on his claims, the MP alleged that students were encouraged to contribute to an “examination support levy,” saying that some teachers collected the funds and collaborated with others to solve exam questions and pass answers to invigilators for distribution.

“The system was so compromised that students were asked to pay money for examination support, and you had groups of teachers solving questions elsewhere and passing them on to invigilators,” he alleged.

Mr. Boam has urged the current Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, to set up a commission of enquiry to investigate the alleged malpractices and their impact on the integrity of Ghana’s education system.

He stressed that a full-scale probe is necessary to restore public confidence in national examinations and ensure that future assessments reflect genuine student performance.