Student abandons WASSCE exams due to pregnancy at Vitting SHS

Correspondence from Northern Region:

A final year female student of Vitting Senior High School has reportedly abandoned her West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) papers due to pregnancy.

The girl whose identity has been withheld is a final year Home Economics student at the Vitting SHS who got pregnant during the closure of schools due to COVID-19 and has since not returned for her WASSCE exams.

Breaking the news to GhanaWeb, the headmaster of the school, Mr. Douglas H. Yakubu said the school made an arrangement for the girl to come and write the exams but she refused for fear of stigmatization.

Mr. Douglass also expressed concerns over what is currently happening in some schools with regard to students going on a rampage.

“All heads of institutions in Ghana should be concern about what is happening." He said.

He emphasized the need for headmasters to prepare the students, and let them understand that, it is for their own safety to write the papers peacefully and go home.

“The exam is written once in a year and if you miss this year, you have to try next year and whether we will permit you to write it in the school is another question," he advised.

He further stated, that the students need to be talked to, let them understand that they need to sit up, prepare, study, and then write the exams.

He also stressed that, they will not succumb to any pressure from anybody to allow the students to copy.

Ghanaweb can, however, report that, the World Health Organization(WHO) safety measures were strictly adhered to, as 28 students were made to sit for a class.