By Prince Acquah
Ajumako (C/R), June 12, GNA – Three visibly pregnant girls are among 2,836 candidates writing the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) which took off almost seamlessly in the Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam District with no incident disrupting the exercise.
The exams took place in an extremely peaceful environment across nine centres where candidates from 110 public and private schools were registered to write.
Generally, the examination started on time as materials arrived promptly, demonstrating an improvement in the conduct of the exercise in previous years.
There were, however, two absentees on the first day.
Before the exams commenced and after, Madam Sabina Aba Wilson, the District Education Director, Mr Andrews Kojo Duodoo, the District Chief Executive (DCE), and a team of officials toured all nine centres to monitor the exercise and motivate the candidates.
The DCE, on behalf of Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, Member of Parliament for Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam and Finance Minister, distributed some 3,000 mathematical sets to the candidates to support their cause.
At the Ajumako Catholic Basic School Centre, all 399 candidates were present and on time to write the examination.
They started work at 09:03 hours.
The Enyan Denkyira Senior High Technical School hosted 28 schools with two Centres, “A” and “B” having 401 and 285 candidates, respectively.
All students were present as of the start of the paper at 09:06 hours.
The candidates appeared generally optimistic of passing their papers.
For the Sunkwa Catholic Basic School centre in Etsii Sunkwa, their materials arrived slightly late which pushed the commencement time to 09:15 hours.
There were 12 schools and 284 candidates comprising 156 males and 128 females.
The centre recorded one case of pregnancy and a case of absenteeism.
It was not clear the reason for the candidate not reporting.
Mr Kofi Abotsi, the District Science Coordinator and supervisor for the centre, noted that all schools had been decent and comported themselves well.
The atmosphere was calm at the Mando Secondary Technical School centre where 395 students from 18 schools were all present.
Mr Frederick Asante, the Coordinating Officer for the centre, noted that the exams started at 09:00 prompt, however, one student experienced stomach upset before the start of the paper but was promptly attended to and was doing well.
“We are very vigilant but so far, they have been very decent. Nobody has attempted to cheat,” he said.
The supervisor at the Osedzi Methodist Basic School, Mr Alhassan Bukari, told the GNA that all 222 candidates from seven schools were present.
At the Ochiso Methodist JHS, one out of the 327 candidates from 12 schools were absent.
Madam Janet Boamey, the centre supervisor, said, their materials arrived at 09:00 hours, starting at 09:10 hours.
Akin to the earlier centres, the Bisease Senior High School had an incident-free first day.
Over there, two centres, “A” and “B” had 167 and 356 candidates, respectively.
One case of pregnancy was recorded at Centre B.
Nana Owusu, supervisor for centre A said the exams had been smooth and peaceful.
Mr Duodoo, the DCE, entreated the students to work hard to pass their final exams, indicating it was the beginning of their future.
He promised to offer special sponsorship package to candidates who would obtain aggregate six.
“Work hard, be confident in yourself, and make Ajumako District one of the best districts in Ghana.
“The students in Accra are not better than you. You can perform better than them,” he encouraged them.
Mr Duodoo urged them to put in more efforts into their subsequent papers in order to get placements in the best schools in the Region.
He was hopeful of a better outcome for the district, having observed their composure and confidence.
Madam Wilson, the District Education Director, expressed satisfaction with the smooth process and entreated all stakeholders to maintain their commitment to the process.
She encouraged the candidates to stay calm and open-minded, and work independently.
“We can see that they are very well prepared, and we expect that they will write well and pass successfully,” she said.
She reiterated the caution against cheating and promised to deal with all culprits.
After their papers, some students who spoke to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) expressed confidence in what they had written, describing it easier compared to their mock examinations.
A candidate, Ms Selina Essuman, said she expected to score aggregate 12 to make it to Senior High.
For Ms Gloria Appaah, she was hoping to get a minimum of aggregate 14.
“The work was easy, and we expect to come out with flying colours,” she said.
GNA
Edited by Alice Tettey /Kenneth Odeng Adade