FACT CHECK: No, Ministry of Secondary Education did not cancel rescheduling of GCE examinations.

Claim

A document circulating on social media claims that the Ministry of Secondary Education, MINSEC, has cancelled its decision to postpone the remaining General Certificate of Education, GCE examination papers and that candidates should follow the original examination timetable.

Verdict

False. The document is fake. Both the Ministry of Secondary Education and the Cameroon GCE Board confirmed that the release did not originate from their institutions.

Context

The claim emerged after MINSEC issued an official release on June 6, 2026, announcing the rescheduling of the remaining GCE examination papers from June 22 to July 2. 

The ministry cited the leakage of examination questions and ongoing investigations as reasons for the decision.

A day later, another document dated June 7, 2026, began circulating on WhatsApp groups and Facebook pages. 

The document purportedly announced that the examinations would instead proceed according to the original timetable.

However, several inconsistencies raised doubts about the authenticity of the second document. These included formatting irregularities, spelling mistakes, and errors in the naming of official institutions. 

The language and presentation also differed from those typically used in official MINSEC communications.

Verification

To verify the claim, we contacted the Communication Unit of the Ministry of Secondary Education. 

Officials confirmed that the June 7 document was fake and that no such release had been issued by the ministry.

Officials of the Cameroon GCE Board also told us that the document was not authentic and that the examination rescheduling announced by MINSEC remained in force.

In addition, both institutions publicly debunked the circulating document. MINSEC used its official Facebook platform to dismiss the information, while the Cameroon GCE Board issued a clarification through its official Instagram account, @camgceboard.

How the false claim spread

The fake document was shared in several WhatsApp groups, including the Journalists of Integrity forum, which brings together journalists from Cameroon and the diaspora. It was also posted on multiple Facebook pages, contributing to its rapid circulation.

Using the digital verification tool Google Lens and “Who Posted It First,” we traced early online appearances of the document to several Facebook accounts and pages. 

Some administrators contacted during the investigation said they had shared the document believing it to be genuine before later discovering it was false.

The document was also republished by online news platforms and social media pages, amplifying its reach before fact-checks and official clarifications began to circulate.

Conclusion

There is no evidence that MINSEC reversed its decision to reschedule the remaining GCE examination papers. The document claiming that candidates should return to the original examination timetable is fake. Official confirmations from both the Ministry of Secondary Education and the Cameroon GCE Board show that the rescheduling announced on June 6 remains the valid position.

This article was produced as part of the Afri’kibaaru 2 project