1,393 pupils across the country are taking part in this year’s private Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
The number includes candidates who are rewriting the examination because they did not perform well in specific subjects, as well as those desirous to further their education, and are therefore writing the examination for the first time.
This is the third time the private exams is being held after it was first held in 2015.
The Public relations Officer of WAEC, Agnes Teye Cudjoe, in an interview with Citi News, urged the candidates to observe all examination rules and avoid engaging in malpractices.
She said, “We’ll urge all of them to adhere to the rules and to do whatever it is that is expected of them. They should be sure that if they adhere to all the rules they can pass the examination.”
She added that, “we have 1,393 candidates and they are writing in 10 centres. One centre in each of the regional capital. I went to our centre at Asare-Manako hall at cantonments and the exams started on time at 9:00am. They were taking English language paper and they will be writing the Religious and Moral Education paper in the afternoon.”
“So far everything is going on well. The exams will end on Friday with ICT. We will say that it is a good thing that we have done because it is giving candidates who are also a bit older an opportunity to write the examination and further their education.”
‘Why private BECE became necessary’
The Ghana Education Service (GES) revealed after a research that only about 60 percent of students who write the BECE make it into Senior High Schools.
The others, it said, either go into informal vocational or technical training or learn a trade or just give up education entirely.
There have been calls by various analysts and educational organizations to revise the educational system to give students at the basic education a second opportunity to write their examination if they fail the first time, as it is for the West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
The call was accepted and that led to the introduction of the private BECE in 2015.
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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @jnyabor
