Private BECE candidates re-sit examination takeoff

The Ministry of Education together with the West African Examination Council (WAEC) has finalised a deal, allowing 1,181 private candidates of Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) to rewrite their exams for the first time.

The examination, covering 21 subject areas, is slated to start on February 16 and end on February 20 in all the regional capitals and the Bia district in the western region with 75 examiners expected to supervise the exercise.

Four persons with disability, one deaf and three blind candidates, would take part in the maiden examination that would witness 1,136 candidates writing Mathematics while 1,057 sitting for English.

Western region recorded the highest entry figure of 276 whilst the Upper East Region recorded the lowest figure of 28.

Head of WAEC, Rev Nii Nmai Ollenu explained that the examination was opened to only re-sitters and first-timers and to prevent students who were still in Junior High School from registering; re-sitters were asked to provide index numbers and year of examination of their previous sitting.

He said first-timers were, on the other hand, initially required to be 18 years or above but this was later revised to 16 years to afford those who dropped out of school early the opportunity to sit again.

Education Minister Professor Nana Jane Opoku-Agyemang expressed joy that the teenagers have finally had the opportunity to move to the next ladder of education, saying, “if we don’t get them at this stage perhaps we may not get them at all.”

She said continuous assessment scores would not be required for the examination, adding, “this applies only to re-sitters and first timers who fall out of the school system.”

The fee for the registration ranges from GH¢ 75.00 to GH¢ 105 depending on the number of subjects being registered by the candidate.