Tuesday, February 5, 2013

New BECE date — Candidates approve


Story: Hadiza Nuhhu-Billa Quansah

A NUMBER of final-year students  have welcomed  the change in the date of the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) that has been moved from April to June  and have described it as a blessing.
This year, the BECE would be written by candidates from June 17 and completed on June 24 instead of April as  has been the case over the years.
They said writing the examination in June would give them more time to prepare properly.
There is, however, another group of JHS students who are not excited about the change. Their reason is that they are in a hurry to write the exam and  rest rather than spend time learning while the days drag on.These opinions were expressed when the Junior Graphic went round some schools in Accra, to find out whether candidates were aware that the timetable had been changed by the Ghana Education Service.
During interviews with JHS students of the Police Depot ‘1’ JHS, La Yahoushua JHS, Private Odartey JHS, Calvary Methodist JHS, Grey Memorial JHS among others, the students said the change in date means extra work for them as their teachers and parents would expect nothing but better grades because they had ample time to study.
The Headmistress of the La Yahoushua JHS, Mrs Theodora Agyeman,  in an interview, described the change in the time for the BECE as very good since it would enable teachers  to complete the syllabus and conduct some mock examinations before the students began the examination in June.
Mrs Agyeman explained that usually those of them in the public schools have a lot to do when schools reopen in January. “For instance, we have to prepare the students for sporting activities and the national parade on March 6 for the Independence anniversary celebrations each year and all these affect time for schoolwork”.
Regina Dzifa Gadzo, a JHS three student of the Bask Academy, said the headmaster of her school had informed them about the new date just before they went on the Christmas break and cautioned them not to laze about in the belief that they had a long period to study before the examination.
Meanwhile, some students of the Madina  No. '1' Cluster of Schools with whom the Junior Graphic met said they were not aware that the examination time had been changed from April to June.
A parent, Nana Konadu, was not satisfied with the change of the examination time as she had planned to travel outside on holidays with her twins who are both writing the BECE. “ I had planned to travel with them during my leave in May but as it is now I cannot because of the change”, she said.
According to the Deputy Director-General of the Ghana Education Service, Mr Stephen Adu, the change had become necessary to enable candidates to have ample time to prepare for the examination.

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