National Chairman of the People's Progressive Party (PPP), Nana Ofori Owusu has called on the Government of Ghana to abolish the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
Making his submissions on Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo', Nana Ofori posited that the BECE is one major factor contributing to streetism in Ghana.
He stressed that it is unnecessary for Junior High School (JHS) students to write final exams explaining many children are on the streets hawking because they couldn't pass their basic examination, hence failed to further their education.
"We have to abolish this BECE. The examination is not necessary . . . The statistics of last year and the year before, 40,000 failed. The year before about 45,000 and the year before, it was 100,000 plus. This is a very wicked system . . . PPP is of the view that this BECE thing should be abolished," he told Kwami Sefa.
The PPP National Chairman advised that JHS students should be given an automatic pass to the Senior High Schools.
"You can't have an education policy that sifts school children to stay home. If you're sifting in terms of where their interests are and where their strengths are, it's a different issue. But if you're sifting to make someone go ahead and leave others behind, it's a dangerous sifting . . . You can't have a system where at the age of 13 years old, some children are at home and selling bread, dog chains and so forth on the streets. You can't have this system because it is a wicked system. The system is not for the most of us; it is for the least of us," he said.
Meanwhile, this year's Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) has begun on Monday, September 14, 2020, and will end on Friday, September 18, 2020, nationwide for all Junior High School (JHS) final year students.
