Cape Coast — In his bid to help Junior High School (JHS) candidates in the Cape Coast Metropolis to adequately prepare for Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE), the Deputy Minister for Justice and Attorney General, Ebo Barton Odro, has launched a programme dubbed 'Saturday Classes' for final year students. The students are expected to sit for the BECE examinations in April this year.

Speaking at the ceremony in Cape Coast over the weekend, the deputy Minister said the previous extra classes that he organised saw a sizeable number of pupils from both private and public schools making good grades, which qualified them to the Senior High Schools in the Metropolis. He cited an example where 70 pupils gained admission to Mfantsipim School last year, as against the previous years, where none of them qualified.

According to him, he was motivated by the strides made last year, where some of the pupils gained admission to the model schools in the Central Region, and expressed the hope that this move would further boost the morale of the students to perform well in the upcoming examinations.

Mr. Odro, who is Member of Parliament for Cape Coast, announced that he has instituted awards for the first 12 students who would perform very well in the BECE this year, although he did not mention the kind of prizes he would give to prospective winners.

Since he assumed as MP for Cape Coast in 2009, the MP has engaged in various educational campaigns to improve the education standards in the Metropolis. He recently received science equipment from Harris International Company, worth GH¢ 80,000 for a Science Resource Centre which he has established, to boost science education among pupils in the Cape Coast Metropolis.