By Prince Acquah, GNA
Cape Coast, July 5, GNA – The Central Regional Education Directorate says it has made adequate preparations for a smooth conduct of the 2024 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) scheduled for Monday, July 08 to Monday, July 15 for 65,605 candidates in the region.
Of the figure, 32,750 are males while 32,855 are females from 2,415 public and private Junior High Schools (JHS) who have been registered to sit for the BECE across 225 centres.
A total of 51,138 candidates made up of 25,576 boys and 25,562 girls are from public schools while 14,467, comprising 7,174 boys and 7,293 girls are from private schools.
It said all 22 districts of the region were ready for the exams and assured that it would be conducted in a conducive and friendly environment for the candidates to write in their best mood.
Mr Emmanuel Essuman, the Regional Director of Education, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview that he expected no incidents of malpractice and hoped for an excellent performance.
He said the Awutu Senya East Municipality had the highest number of examination centres, 29 while Effutu had the least of five.
Mr Essuman said that invigilators, supervisors and security officers had been deployed across the region to ensure safety and prevent malpractices.
He cautioned against all forms of examination malpractices, warning that there were serious consequences for culprits.
“Have the confidence that you are going to be assessed on what you were taught in school and do not depend on cheating,” Mr Essuman advised.
The director expressed disquiet over the incidence of truancy by some candidates after registering for the examination.
He said the situation had become a challenge because it was difficult to sanction the students and prevent them from writing once they were registered.
He appealed to students to desist from such behaviours as it had dire consequences on their performance.
“The curriculum has been structured in a way that all topics would have to be covered by the end of the academic calendar.
“And so, if your think you have registered and for that matter you are not attending school, it means you are going to miss all those areas the curriculum is supposed to cover within the period,” he said.
GNA