By Ilyasa Baa
Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC’s ) Scorpion Squad has on Thursday 2nd June, 2022, caught teachers and pupils of the Moses Academy in Deep Eye Water, Western Rural District, red handed whilst they were engaged in a clandestine Malpractice during the Mathematics paper at the ongoing West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) .
In its bid to have good results in public exams, Moses Academy had set up a separate room known as Special Room outside the school campus where a teacher was caught writing the exam for a pupil and other candidates were caught with their phones in the hall.
The malpractice syndicate, according to investigation, started last year when the school became a centre for exams.
“The school succeeded last year to cheat but this year ran out of luck”, our source intimated, adding that the Principal, Mr. Kargbo, Emmanuel, the Bursar together with the Proprietor, Ibrahim Turay orchestrated the plan work so that their candidates will come out with flying colours at the end of the day.
However, the school was said to have deployed a student from Njala University to show the kids.
Our source maintained that the information that the ACC would bump in reached the Principal through an okada rider but it fell on deaf ears as no action was taken to disguise their malpractices until the Scorpion Squad over powered them.
The Principal, though he ran away, he sustained injuries in the process. As for the Proprietor, Ibrahim Turay, he was in his way to work late that morning, when he was approached by a lady who is a member of the squad. The ACC lady asked if he was the Proprietor, he answered yes and was told they had come to see what was going on in his compound with regards the exams.
He showed the lady the school nearby but she insisted and they ended up gathering sufficient evidences to support the case and his computer laptop and phone confiscated by the squad.
In a panic mood, the Proprietor called the squad inside his house, pleaded and offered to bribe the sum of Le 40 million, an amount rejected woefully who insisted on doing the right thing for the country.
About 18 mobile phones were confiscated in the hall by the Squad together with personnel from the community’s Police Post. The scene became chaotic as the pupils resorted to pelting stones on the officials, warranting them to fire tear gas canisters while taking six pupils and four teachers including the Proprietor now in the Criminal Investigation Department.
Our source recalled that 192 candidates are taking the exams from Moses Academy paying millions of Leones to the school administration. The school is said to have an open policy with regards taking the WASSCE for them to have more candidates taking the exams through the school.” “Even those without BECE have been allowed here to sit the WASSCE,” an insider source revealed.
The private school was established seven years ago with core staff being relatives of the Proprietor.
The Scorpion Squad, it could be recalled, has carried out successful raids to sanitize the education sector but it seems the examination malpractice syndrome continues unabated.
