The West Africa Examinations Council (WAEC) has begun preliminary investigations into allegations of leakage of some papers of the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSSCE) taken this years.

The Principal Legal Officer and Acting Public Relations Officer of WAEC, Mr Fred Ebo Selby told Peace FM that the council has detailed its officers to selected examination centers and depots to establish the veracity of reports that the core Mathematics and other papers has leaked. He said so far the reports about the leakage were received on two FM stations in Accra and there is no single piece of evidence as of now that the papers had leaked.

He said the WAEC has asked the FM stations to help it in its effort to find any credible evidence on the reported leakage. He advised media organisations to be circumspect in their reportage because of this implications of any unfounded reports on the leakage for the candidates. Mr Selby said all the necessary measures have been taken by the council to prevent the occurrence of the widespread leakage, which was associated with the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) last April.

In an interview, the Minister of Education, Professor Christopher Ameyaw-Ekumfi said the ministry has received unconfirmed reports of the leakage of the SSSCE. He said the preliminary reports suggest that the leakage is not pervasive as was the case of the BECE. He said the ministry has alerted the security agencies and investigations are underway to find the truth in the reports before action can be taken. Professor Ameyaw-Akumfi pleaded with the media to provide any additional information which will be useful in the ongoing investigations.

The Acting Director-General of the Ghana Education Service, Mr John Budu Smith also in a separate interview, appealed to the media to cooperate with the service in its efforts to get to the bottom of the alleged leakage by providing the evidence available to them for thorough investigations. Peace FM and another Accra based radio staion, JOY FM reported on Monday that Core English, Integrated Science and Mathematics papers have been leaked in the Ashanti, Eastern, Central and Greater Accra Regions.