This year's Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) yesterday started smoothly nationwide with a total of 602, 457 final-year junior high school (JHS) students and private candidates (PCs) participating.
The figure, comprising 600,714 school candidates and 1,743 PCs, represents an increase of 49,049 over last year's figure of 553,408.
The school candidates are made up of 300,323 males and 300,391 females, while the PCs are 889 males and 854 females.
The examination, being held concurrently for the school candidates and the PCs at more than 2,000 centres nationwide, started with Religious and Moral Education and English Language and will end on Friday with French.
When Ghanaian Times reporters visited some of the centres, they observed that the examination was going on without hitches as expected.
CECILIA LAGBA YADA AND JESSEL
THERSON-COFIE report from Ayawaso East that the Municipal Director of Education, Ms Adisa Tassa, toured all the centres in the municipality to encourage the candidates to concentrate on the examination.
The reporters report that the candidates at the Nima Cluster of Schools Centre and Nii Amugi Basic School Centre in Adabraka were all seated and writing the examination at the time of their visits.
The School Improvement Support Officer-in-charge of the municipality, Mrs Brenda Benedicta Attuquayefio, said there were neither absenteeism nor challenges.
In Ablekuma North, the candidates are 2,658 from 80 schools comprising 13 public schools and 67 private ones.
The Municipal Chief Executive, Kofi Ofori, and assembly officials visited some centres, including Saleria Cluster A&B Basic, St. Stephen Basic and Darkuman North Presby Basic to offer them moral support.
Among his entourage were the Municipal Education Director, Ebenezer Ofori; the Ablekuma North Member of Parliament, Sheila Bartels, and the Municipal Coordinating Director, Mrs Vera Akuffo-Mante.
Interacting with the candidates, Mr Ofori advised them to be confident in order to excel at the examination to take full advantage of the Free Senior High School programme.
CLEMENT ADZEI BOYE, TAKORADI reports that 5,853 candidates were writing the examination at 18 centres in the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis of the Western Region.
Out of the total, 2,858 are boys (48.8 per cent) while 2,995 (51.2 per cent) are girls.
Candidates from public schools are 5,035 while 818 came from private schools.
The Metropolitan Director of Education, Mrs Sally Nelly Coleman, said the examination papers were secured, with the monitoring team ready to ensure smooth conduct of the examination.
In the Prestea-Huni Valley municipality, the Education Director, Mr Sebastian Atrama, told the Ghanaian Times that all was set and the students were ready for the examination.
From Tamale, YAHAYA NUHU NADAA reports that the Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Shani Alhassan Shaibu, urged the 31,524 candidates writing the BECE in the region to eschew malpractices, and called on parents to motivate and encourage their children to study hard, to come out with flying colours at the end of the final examination.
A total of 4,856 candidates, comprising 3,306 public school pupils and 1550 private school pupils, are taking part in this year's BECE in the Sunyani Municipality of the Bono Region, DANIEL DZIRASAH reports.
The Sunyani Municipal Director of Education, Mark Godfred Domah, told the Ghanaian Times that 166 invigilators had been deployed to ensure that nothing untoward would happen during and after the examination.
When the reporter visited the Presby cluster of schools, Ridge schools and Sunyani Business School centres at 8:30 a.m., all was set for the examination to start.
Some of the candidates told the Ghanaian Times that they were poised to write their papers because they had adequately prepared for it.
From Koforidua, AMA
TEKYIWAA AMPADU AGYEMAN reports that in the New Juaben North Municipal of the Eastern Region, a total of 1, 431 students, made up of 657 boys and 774 girls, were sitting for the examination with two of them being physically challenged.
She reported that the pupils were seated at 8:45a.m.and the examination started at exactly 9: 00 a.m. with invigilators in the classrooms at the various centres to supervise the candidates.
However, two pupils were said to be absent at the Oyoko Methodist School centre, and a female candidate at GHANAS centre was said to have died two weeks before the examination.
The Municipal Chief Executive for the New Juaben North Municipality, Madam Comfort Asante, who toured the centres, said all arrangements to ensure a successful examination had been put in place.
In the Upper West Regional capital, Wa, the examination started at exactly 9:00a.m. without major issues.
Ghanaian Times' LYDIA DARLINGTON FORDJOUR reports that at some of the centres she visited before 9:00 a.m. yesterday, some candidates were feverishly revising their notes, while others stood in groups of five to 10 in a "last minute revision."
In all, the region has a total of 50 examination centres across the 11 municipals and districts.
According to the Regional Controller of the West African Examination Council (WAEC), Donald Tuor, a total of 14,804 school children were writing the examination and no hitches had been reported.
A total of 11,832 candidates are taking part in the examination in the Oti Region, reports
SAMUEL
AGBEWODE from Dambai.
The Oti Regional Director of Education, Nana Kugbeadzor-Bakateyi II, while touring some examination centres in the Krachi -East Municipality, encouraged the candidates to give good account of themselves to enable them to proceed to the senior high school.
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She cautioned them against examination malpractices, which would affect their education and future when caught.
She also advised invigilators not to intimidate the candidates to ensure that the candidates would write the BECE without fear.
LAWRENCE MARKWEI, reports from Ho that a total of 32,400 candidates started the examination without any difficulties.
The Ketu South Municipality had registered the highest BECE candidates of 4,457, Ho Municipal 3,571 candidates being the second highest, the South Tongu District had 3,411 as the third highest registered candidates and Akatsi-North District with the lowest registered number of candidates of 572 in the 18 Municipal and District Assemblies in the region.
The Volta Regional Director of Education, Mr Francis Yao Agbemadi, said the examination started on time across the region and the level of seriousness demonstrated by the candidates was high.
He urged the candidates to take the examination seriously, and be confident and bold to enable them to pass the examination well to qualify them to enjoy the Free Senior High School (FSHS) system.
Supervisors at Ho-Kpodzi and Mawuko Girls examination centres, Mr Nelson Delorme Adjie and Hopsin Selase Anyan, corroborated the smooth conduct of the examination.
