UPSA holds back graduation of students over doctored exam results

Pinned summary · as of 06:21

The University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) says 178 students were behind unauthorised changes to more than 500 academic results held on its system. Vice-Chancellor Professor John Kwaku Mensah Mawutor disclosed the findings at the school's 18th Congregation on Saturday, and those implicated will not graduate for now.

What we know

• Professor John Kwaku Mensah Mawutor, UPSA's vice-chancellor, told the 18th Congregation that its results system had been breached and grades altered without permission.
• The university put the number of altered results at more than 500 and said 178 students were involved.
• Professor Mawutor said the people responsible had been identified, crediting the university's IT team for spotting the tampering and tracing the changed records.
• Students implicated in the case have been blocked from graduating while disciplinary proceedings and further investigations continue.
• Professor Mawutor said some of the students paid others to raise their marks, a claim he presented as the result of the university's own investigation.
• Professor Mawutor said UPSA would keep taking disciplinary action against anyone who compromises its academic systems. He called the conduct "highly unacceptable, especially at UPSA".

What's disputed / unconfirmed

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  The Press Radio reported that the scheme involved an external individual who got into the records system and that the university knows who that person is. This has not been corroborated by other reports.
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  Reports differ on how many students lost their place at graduation. The Press Radio said all 178 were held back, while The Ghana Report quoted the vice-chancellor as saying only some of those involved had been due to graduate at the ceremony.
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  The Ghana Report said Professor Mawutor told the gathering that some students admitted paying people to change their marks and others admitted collecting money from classmates for the same purpose, while some denied any part. The Press Radio said only that some of those implicated admitted involvement. None of these admissions has been independently verified.
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  Rainbow Radio Online attributed the discovery of the breach to robust ICT systems and to a probe lasting a month under James Amuzu, who runs the ISTD, the university's information systems unit, working with his staff. No other report gave these details.
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  According to The Ghana Report, the vice-chancellor said similar incidents had happened at UPSA before but that this one was far bigger. Other reports did not carry the remark.
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  Rainbow Radio Online said Professor Mawutor described the 500-plus figure as what he had been told, so it is not clear whether the final count has been settled.

Why it matters for Ghana

A degree from UPSA is a working credential for its graduates in Accra and across the country, and altered marks call into question the records that employers and other institutions rely on. Students and parents now wait to learn how disciplinary proceedings will affect those held back, and the university has said further investigations are continuing.