In a distressing incident that unfolded on Thursday, September 7, 2023, during the West Africa Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) at Ofori Panin Senior High School examination centre, a student faced a humiliating ordeal.
The student had his dignity stripped away as a result of wearing attire that did not conform to the prescribed dress code for the examination.
The WASSCE candidate had arrived at the examination centre donned in a white shirt paired with brown khaki shorts, a combination that ran afoul of the stipulated dress guidelines.
This sartorial choice incited the ire of a WAEC (West African Examinations Council) official, who took drastic action by forcibly removing the student’s khaki shorts, leaving him with just his boxer shorts as he attempted to sit for the exams.
This incident is just one in a series of troubling cases of intimidation and mistreatment reportedly experienced by candidates at this particular examination centre.
In some instances, candidates recounted their ordeals, sharing stories of unwarranted harassment and intimidation by certain WAEC officials who seemed intent on instilling fear in them without any justifiable cause.
Anonymous candidates who had been subjected to such treatment revealed that one George Agyekum, a depot officer and Senior Assistant Registrar at WAEC, was at the centre of these allegations.
Agyekum was accused of intimidating, terrorizing, and deliberately harassing candidates in a manner that aimed to have a detrimental psychological impact on them.
In one particularly disturbing incident, it was alleged that George Agyekum had physically assaulted a candidate, accusing them of attempting to cheat during the examination.
When approached by journalists seeking his response to these allegations, Agyekum chose not to comment on the matter and directed the reporters to contact his superiors in Accra.
Parents of the students participating in the examination expressed their profound dissatisfaction with the conduct of these officials and called upon the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service (GES) to intervene swiftly and address the situation.
They sought assurances that such incidents would not recur and that students would be able to sit for their exams in an atmosphere free from fear, intimidation, and humiliation.