Girls surpassing boys in WASSCE & BECE threat to security – GNAT
Teacher Union following the West African Examinations Council statistics that girls had surpassed boys in this year’s West African Senior School Certificate Examination and Basic Education Certificate Examination says the situation is a threat to security.
Speaking to Daily Graphic, the General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Thomas Musah said “If we are having a situation where the female number increases against the males, then we are in for trouble
“Where are the males going to? Are they dropping out of school and if they are dropping out of school, where are they now? It means they would certainly go into child labour, they would go into other social vices which the nation might not be able to contain.”
Reacting to WASSCE and BECE statistics, he said “In policy formulation and being mindful of the requirement of ensuring that the country lives a healthy life in every aspect of economic development, you need both males and females.”
Suggesting what could encourage more boys to stay in school, Mr Musah said the necessary resources including the payment of the Capitation Grant must be done at the start of the school year so as to create an enabling environment for students.
“Currently, the basic schools are not attractive, particularly the public basic schools. When the children go to school and the environment there is not attractive, they will not come again because whatever you are teaching should be relevant to the child,” he said.
Current statistics from the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) sighted by AcademicWeek.com indicate that girls have outstripped boys in this year’s two examinations thus WASSCE for School and BECE for School Candidates.
For this academic year’s West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), a total of 447,204 candidates of which 211,834 are males and 235,370 are females are writing the Ghana version of the international examination.
This figure indicates an increase of 5.8% compared to the 2022 entry figure of 422,883. The 2023 edition of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) is taking place at 834 examination centres across the country.
In regard to this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), a total of 600,714 candidates representing 300,323 males and 300,391, females participated in the national examination which ended on August 11, 2023.
