The 2021 Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE) began yesterday in 2,158 centres across the country.
The five-day exam will be written by nearly 571,894 candidates.
From the Ayawaso West Municipality, LAWRENCE VOMAFA-AKPALU reports that, 588 candidates were writing the examination in five centres in the municipality.
The Municipal Chief Executive, Ms Sandra Owusu-Ahenkorah, who toured the centres urged the candidates to see the examination as a normal classroom work and come out with flying colours.
The Municipal Director of Education, Ms Margaret Kaba, said a lot had been done for the candidates to excel as such should not allow themselves to be fooled by anyone to engage in any examination malpractice, or any act that could jeopardise their future aspirations and that of colleagues who might not have been involved.
Mathematical sets procured by the Member of Parliament Ms Lydia Seyram Alhassan were distributed to the students.
The Principal of the Accra College of Education, Dr Samuel Atintono, urged the students to comport themselves and avoid any act that would put them into trouble.
VIVIAN ARTHUR reports that the Assembly Member for Osu Kinkawe Electoral Area, Mr George Annan, yesterday presented 190 Mathematical sets worth GH 6,000 to some candidates in his electoral area to aid them in their final examination.
The presentation comes in the wake of an extra tuition which he organised and sponsored for the students as part of preparation towards the BECE.
Mr Annan said the gesture formed part of the several yearly routine measures his office in collaboration with the Municipal Assembly had adopted to enhance education delivery in the municipality.
ALBERTO MARIO NORETTI, reports from Ho that a delay in the arrival of question papers at the Ho-Kpodzi E.P. JHS ‘D’ Centre created anxiety among the BECE candidates who turned up at the centre well ahead of 9:00 a.m. when the exams were scheduled to take off.
The majority of the 432 candidates, made up of 216 boys and 216 girls reported at the centre with great zeal and enthusiasm for the examinations as early as 6:30 a.m.
There were similar delays at some centres in the Ho West district where 1,548 candidates, including 693 girls and 855 boys from 73 schools were expected to sit for the papers.
The District Director of Education, Madam Celestine Agordo told this reporter that apart from the brief delays at some of the centres, the examinations took off smoothly.
Madam Enyonam Afi Amafuga, Volta Regional Director of Education, said that 31, 115 candidates made up of 15,870 boys and 15,236 girls were expected to sit for the BECE at 115 centres in the region.
Among them, she said, were 10 visually impaired and 23 other students with special needs.
The Regional Director of Education said that the students were drawn from 819 public schools and 313 private institutions.
LYDIA DARLINGTON FORDJOUR, reports from Wa that a total of 14,585.00 candidates are writing this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in the Upper West Region. The figure comprises 7,258 males and 7,328 females.
In the Wa Municipality a total of 1,405 candidates comprising 668 males and 737 females from 29 schools would write the exam at 12 designated centres across the municipality.
Addressing a number of candidates at the Wa Senior Technical School, one of the centres in the municipality on Monday, the Upper West Regional Minister, Dr Hafiz Bin Salih encouraged the students to eschew acts of malpractice in the exam.
The Regional Director for Education, Mr Abdul Razak Korah encouraged the students to read the questions carefully, take their time to answer them, and also ensure they read through their responses before submitting their papers to the invigilators.
AMA TEKYIWAA AMPADU AGYEMAN, reports from Koforidua in the New Juaben South Municipality of the Eastern Region, that 2,562 candidates from a total of 72 schools were writing the BECE in eight centres.
The Municipal Chief Executive of New Juaben South, Mr Isaac Appaw-Gyasi, toured some of the centres, including Koforidua Secondary Technical School, New Juaben Senior High School, and Pentecost School.
The Municipal Education Director, Mr Victor Degraft Etsison, said the Ghana Education Service (GES) in the district had done its best to provide the children with serene environment to write the exams peacefully.
GODFRED BLAY-GIBBAH reports from the Chemu Secondary school Centre ‘A’ in Tema where 201 students from five public and private schools are writing the Basic Examination Certification Examination. However three girls were absent.
A School Improvement Support Officer of the Tema Metropolis, Ms Betty Ohene-Obeng, supervising at the centre , said information gathered indicated that the absentee students stopped attending school six months ago, after registering for the examination.
Meanwhile, PHILOMINA OPPONG reports that the Head of Public Affairs at the West African Examination Council WAEC), Madam Agnes Teye-Cudjoe, said that her office had put in place every possible measure to ensure a successful examination as well as protect its reputation.
Some of the new measures, she said, included the invitation of the National Intelligence Bureau (BNI), to watch over during the printing of the examination papers together with the National Police Service and the WAECs internal security personnel, as well as the media to observe the distribution of the various question papers to the various exams centres.
Speaking to Ghanaian Times, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of Ayawaso North, Mrs Gifty Sekyi-Bremansu stated that, the municipality consist of three examination centres with a total number of 635 candidates and eight schools.
“For the 2021 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), there are three centres , eight schools and 635 students who are well poised for the examinations in the coming days”, she mentioned.
BY TIMES REPORTERS