Schools demand timeout in loadshedding as WASSCE begins

With the 2015 West African Senior Schools Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) set to begin on Monday, March 30, some school heads are calling for reprieve in the ongoing loadshedding exercise.

They complain aside the additional costs to them, the situation is affecting preparations of final year students for the exams.

“We are appealing to ECG to just take us off until May 14,” adjured Lawrence Korley, the Assistant Headmaster of Accra Academy, on TV3.

“After that they can hook us on [to the loadshedding timetable].”

Proprietor of His Majesty School Evans Opoku Gyimah wants a quick fix of the crisis.

“Over GH¢2,500 every month to fuel our generator and you can imagine as a school, it’s like an extra load we have to carry,” he lamented.

“I think something needs to be done urgently to resolve this energy crisis.”

A total of 268,771 candidates are expected to sit this year’s examination.

Some of the candidates told TV3 that the loadshedding is having a negative effect on their studies.

“The ideal thing is to bring torchlight in order to stay off more in the night,” a final year boarding student of Accra Academy told TV3.

Another also said: “When there is no light, there is no prep and so we lose those precious hours that we could have studied.”

Day students are also not left out of the difficulties.

One Gladys uses her phone’s illumination to study whenever there is no power but that is often shortlived.

“I have to use my phone to learn but now I have a low battery so my phone is off. I have to drop my books and stop learning and this is affecting me a great deal.”