57 prisoners partake in 2023 BECE for School & Private Candidates

57 prisoners including 26 inmates of the Senior Correctional Centre of the Ghana Prisons Service meant for juvenile offenders of up to 21 years old are among candidates sitting for this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination.

According to the Daily Graphic newspaper, eight other candidates from the Kumasi Central Prison, nine from the Nsawam Medium Security Prison and four from the Sunyani Central Prison are also taking the examination.

“The all-male candidates from the Senior Correctional Centre are between 13 and 21 years old and are serving a maximum of three-year terms for different offences,” Graphic said in a blog post sighted by AcademicWeek.com

The inmates it said are sitting the examination with other candidates from regular schools in the Ayawaso District in Accra at the Bethany Methodist Junior High School, which is serving as an examination centre for BECE candidates.

In an interview with the Daily Graphic newspaper, officers in charge of the Senior Correctional Centre, Deputy Director of Prisons, Millicent Owusu said the inmates had been prepared adequately for the national examination.

The Prison official said some volunteers and the teachers at the centre spent time discussing past questions with the candidates and prepared the inmates psychologically ahead of the 2023 BECE for School and Private Candidates.

“We have told them that no matter where you are you will be able to excel, and from here you can move on to the next level,” Millicent Owusu told Graphic adding that “Last year, we registered a similar number and they did well in the exam.”

The Deputy Director of Prisons, further disclosed that the government had absorbed the Basic Education Certificate Exam registration fees of the inmates, while the Ghana Prisons Service took over all other costs of writing the subjects.

In another story, a report has said more females for the first time in recent Ghana’s history are participating in the Basic Education Certificate Examination administered by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) than males.

“For the 1st time in recent history, Ghana is presenting more female candidates than males for BECE, even though fewer females (49.6%) enrolled in KG 1 when the current cohort started their 11-year journey,” the report indicated.

Scheduled to start Monday, August 7, 2023, to Friday, August 11, 2023, the 2023 BECE will see 600,714 candidates, comprising 300,323 boys and 300,391 girls from 18,993 Junior High Schools sit for the national examination.

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) amid low entries in registration of BECE for Private Candidates this academic year will conduct both the 2023 BECE for School and BECE for Private Candidates at the same time.

The number of candidates that registered for this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) for School according to the non-profit-making organization (WAEC) is 8.8% higher than the 2022 entry figure of 552,276.

With regard to the 2023 BECE for Private Candidates, a total entry figure of 1,743 candidates was recorded. This is made up of 889 males and 854 females. This year’s figure is 5.4% higher than the entry figure of 1,132 for 2022.