Ministerial Statement On BECE

We have invited you here to inform you of decisions this Ministry has taken in connection with the 2002 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).

You will recall that on April 24, 2002 following reports in the media about possible widespread leakages in the BECE, I expressed this Ministry's utmost concern and assured the nation that very thorough investigations will be conducted on the matter and appropriate action taken.

It is in line with this commitment that a committee was established with the responsibility of presenting a report on the conduct of the 2002 BECE with special emphasis on allegations of leakages. I wish to inform you that the committee has submitted its report and the Ministry has, after very painstaking efforts, taken a decision on the matter.

The 2002 BECE was conducted from Monday 22 - Friday 26 April, 2002 with a total of 264,956 candidates participating from 6,795 basic schools in 958 centres nation-wide.

The candidates were examined in the following subjects:- English Language, Mathematics, Religious and Moral Education, Pre-Technical Skills, Social Studies, Agricultural Science, General Science, Vocational Skills (with options), Ghanaian Language (with options), French.

It must be noted that in addition to the normal procedures established by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to ensure the smooth conduct of examinations, the Council this year sent a reinforcement of officers to examination centres nation-wide. Evidences from the regions indicated that there were leakages of some papers in the Greater Accra, Western, Ashanti, Volta, Central and the Eastern regions. No evidences of leakages were found in the other regions.

An emergency Council meeting of the Ghana Administrative and Finance Committee of the WAEC under the Chairmanship of the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service was held on May 3, 2002. The Chief Director of this Ministry participated in the meeting. The committee considered the reports on the leakage of the 2002 BECE, the consequences of the leakage, the various options open to the committee as well as the financial and social implications of the options.

The Ministry of Education has decided upon receipt of the committee's report that:-

i. All candidates for the 2002 Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE) re-sit all four main subjects namely English Language, Mathematics, General Science and Social Science. This means that candidates will re-sit both the Objective and Essay components of these subjects.

ii. Candidates re-sit only the objective papers in Religious and Moral Education, Pre-Technical Skills, Agricultural Science and Vocational Skills.

iii. Marks scored by candidates under the Continuous Assessment Component of subjects remain unchanged.

In arriving at this decision, the Ministry acknowledges the fact that many candidates have studied very hard for the BECE. It is however regrettable that they will be affected by a problem that they have no demonstrable culpability in. I urge them to accept the Ministry's decision in good faith and redouble their efforts.

Finally, I wish to urge candidates, their parents, the general public and indeed the media to join hands with the ministry and the WAEC to reinstate confidence and credibility in the BECE.