GES DG explains cancellation of WAEC BECE for School after 2023
Following rumours the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) for School after the 2023 academic year will be cancelled, the Director-General of Ghana Education Service (GES), Dr Eric Nkansah says no such decision has been taken by the government.
Speaking at a West African Examinations Council (WAEC) forum dubbed “The Fundamentals of the BECE Grading System” the Director-General said second-year Junior High School (JHS) students will sit for the national examination.
“We are not cancelling BECE, what is confusing people is we are now moving away from the old objective based to the standard-based curriculum. It does not mean that those who are on the standard-based would not write BECE
Perhaps maybe the nature and form of the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) will change, BECE for School is not cancelled we are writing it for even those who are in Junior High School 2 will also write,” the GES Director said.
BECE
This examination is both for certification and selection into Senior High Schools and Technical Institutes in Ghana. The results of the examination are based on Continuous Assessment and the external examination. The Continuous Assessment forms 30% whilst the external examination forms 70% of the total assessment.
Eligibility
Candidates in the third year of Junior High School (JHS) approved by the Ghana Education Service (GES) are eligible to register to take part in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) for School.
Grading of candidates
Candidates are graded based on their performance in the external examination (objective and written) and Continuous (Internal) Assessment marks provided by the schools.
A nine-point numerical scale is used in grading the candidates with Grade 1 denoting the highest performance and Grade 9 the lowest.
The 2023 edition of the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) will start on Monday, August 7, 2023, with Social Studies (Essay & Objectives) and end on Friday, August 11, 2023, with French (Essay & Objectives).
