There were 5 pregnant teenagers among the female candidates taking the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in the Assin Foso Municipality of the Ashanti Region.
Reporting from the centre, Rainbow Radio’s Oheneba Ambrose stated that there was also a lactating mother who was also sitting for the exams.
The candidates told him they were prepared for the exams and would not allow their pregnancies to stop them from participating in the exams.
They were hopeful they would come out with flying colours and continue at the senior high level.
In Ashanti Region, a total of 111, 432, made up of 55,829 males and 55, 603 females are writing this year’s BECE.
Kumasi Metropolitan Director of GES, Mr David Oppong, said 10,679 candidates across 216 public and private schools within greater Kumasi made of 5,596 females and 5,083 are males took part in the exams.
Meanwhile, there were 25 pregnant teenagers among the female candidates taking part in the exams in the Central Region’s Ajumako Enyan Essiam District.
In total, 2783 candidates are sitting for exams in the District, 1451 of them are female and 1331 are male.
17 candidates were absent from all six centers, namely Ajumako, Ochiso, Mando, Sonkwa, Denkyira, and Bisease, out of the total number of candidates.
In the centers visited, Ajumako had seven teenage pregnant candidates, Mando had four, Bisease had eight, Ocheso had three, and Sonkwa had three.
The Minister of Education, Yaw Osei Adutwum in a message asked students participating in the BECE to desist from all forms of examination malpractices.
In a statement, Dr. Adutwum said his outfit is working with the Ghana Education Service ( GES ) and West African Examination Council ( WAEC ) to ensure a smooth and peaceful examination at all the centers.
“On behalf of my Ministry, I wish to extend my best wishes to the 571, 894 candidates who will be writing this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination from Monday 15 November 2021 to Friday 19 November.
“I wish to encourage candidates, invigilators, supervisors, school authorities, and teachers to observe all COVID-19 safety protocols as you write the exams devoid of all forms of examination malpractices,” the statement read.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
