By Michael Pepsin Avorgah, GNA
Aflao (V/R), March 10, GNA – About 4,375 final-year Junior High School students across 133 schools in the Ketu South Municipality of the Volta Region, have taken part in a special mock examination, to prepare them for the 2026 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
The two-day examination, organised and fully funded by the Felix Akonta Akakpo Foundation, covers four core subjects — Mathematics, Science, Social Studies and English Language, and was designed to test the readiness of candidates ahead of the national examination.
As part of the initiative, Mr Felix Akonta Akakpo, a philanthropist popularly known as Torgbui Tenuvi II, embarked on a two-day monitoring tour of the examination centres, to encourage the students and interact with teachers as well as school authorities.
Addressing the media during the tour, Mr Akakpo said the initiative was inspired by the recent BECE performance of the municipality, which placed Ketu South 16th out of 18 districts in the Volta Region.
He explained that the municipality continued to face several challenges in the education sector, including infrastructure deficits, inadequate teaching and learning materials, and limited conducive learning environments for both teachers and students, which had contributed to the declining academic performance.
Mr Akakpo noted that the mock examination, formed part of broader efforts by his foundation to help restore Ketu South to its former glory in academic excellence.
He urged the students to take the exercise seriously and approach the examinations with determination and confidence.
Mr Akakpo also announced that 100 outstanding students who excelled across the three sets of mock examinations and eventually passed the 2026 BECE with excellent grades, would be awarded special scholarships to attend Grade A Senior High Schools of their choices within or outside the region.
He called on headteachers, teachers, assembly members, parents, and opinion leaders in the municipality to take keen interest in the education of children.
He said collective support from all stakeholders would significantly improve the performance of students in the municipality.
Reverend Charles Elikplim Dorkenu, the Public Relations Officer of the Ketu South Municipal Education Directorate, who joined the monitoring team, commended the philanthropist for the initiative.
He explained that, traditionally, parents were required to pay examination fees for their wards to participate in mock examinations prior to the BECE, however, the intervention by the foundation had removed that financial burden from parents across the municipality.
Rev. Dorkenu also noted that in previous years, candidates in various schools wrote different sets of mock examination questions, making it difficult for the directorate to accurately assess the preparedness of students across the municipality.
He said the education directorate had long sought support to organise a common mock examination for all candidates, but those efforts had not been successful until the intervention by Mr Akakpo.
He said the first phase of the examination ended with candidates writing two core subjects each day, completing the four subjects within the two-day period.
The second and third sets of the mock examinations were scheduled to commence respectively on March 23 and April, where candidates would again sit for all the subjects, to further assess their preparedness, he added.
Some students who spoke to the Ghana News Agency expressed optimism that the exercise would help them to adequately prepare for the final BECE.
They noted that writing the same examination as candidates from other schools would enable them to understand how BECE questions were structured and how best to approach them.
The students also expressed appreciation to Mr Akakpo, for supporting their academic preparation and pledged to work hard to be among the best candidates in the country.
GNA
Edited by Maxwell Awumah/ Christabel Addo