Bamenda, 22 August, 2023 / 6:21 pm (ACI Africa).
Catholic Bishops of Cameroon’s Bamenda Ecclesiastical Province have decried examination malpractice in the country’s 2023 session of the General Certificate of Education (GCE).
In their Tuesday, August 22 statement following a six-day meeting at Bishop’s House in Bamenda Archdiocese, members of the Bamenda Provincial Episcopal Conference (BAPEC) call for a collective effort of all education stakeholders to end the vice, which they describe as “alarming”.
“The alarming increase in the number and types of examination malpractices registered during the 2023 session of the GCE Examination is a subject of major concern to the Bishops,” BAPEC members say in the statement issued at the end of the 75th ordinary meeting that started on August 17.
They advocate for a collaborative approach, saying, “To adequately address this problem, we need the collective efforts of teachers, parents, religious denominations, and the Ministries in charge of education for the reinforcement of education in integrity, the establishment of discipline, and a culture of hard work and merit.”
The Catholic Church leaders further urge the GCE board to ensure “a better organization of the examination” and to adopt “measures that can reduce examination malpractices.”