Students in the Bawku Municipality are writing this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE) under heavy security protection due to the volatile situation in the area, the Regional Director of the Ghana Education Service (GES) has confirmed.
Checks by Ghanaian Times revealed that most of the examination centres in Bawku and its immediate environs were under heavy security guard of both the police and military.
As part of the security arrangement to ensure the safety of the students, cluster centres has been created to cater for the needs of the students.
One of such centres is the one created at Natinga within the Bawku township.
Authorities at the Ghana Education Service (GES) have justified the frequent security patrols at the centres, despite protest from some members of the public that the heavy security presence could impact the candidates psychologically and affect their performance.
The Regional Director of GES, Mr Bright Lawoe, however, said that had been the normal practice since the outbreak of the communal clashes in 2021.
Touching on the number of students taking part in this year’s examination from the Bawku Municipality, he said there were 1,989 students involved.
He said the total number of students participating in the examination from the region was 22,439 comprising 10,587 males and 11,852 females from 694 schools.
Mr Lawoe explained that the number of candidates presented by the Bawku Municipality made it the fourth municipality with the highest number of candidates, stressing that this was in spite of the fact that many children of school age had deserted school, as a result of the long-standing chieftaincy conflict between Kusasis and Mamprusis in that part of the region.
On the conduct of the candidates of the various centres in the region, Mr Lawoe indicated he was satisfied with the good behaviour put up by them at the centres so far.
No incident of exams malpractices, he expatiated, had been recorded at the centres, attributing it to the myriad of roles being played by teachers, religious persons, among other stakeholders who in divergent ways contributed in shaping the behaviour and attitude of the pupils.
He said he had confidence in the candidates, and urged them to do their best and excel in the ongoing examination that was taking place in 79 centres across the region, as that was the only way they could make the region proud.
Mr Lawoe said 53 special pupils (deaf and dumb) were registered to take part in the examination in the region.
In addition to the 53 students with special needs, there were a number of heavily pregnant candidates.
The regional director, however said his outfit was yet to be furnished with the total number of pregnancies and absentees recorded in the examination that was underway.
He assured that his outfit would continue to monitor to ensure that candidates wrote their examination in a more conducive atmosphere, devoid of intimidations from invigilators and the security.
