THE BECE TIMETABLE MUST BE REDRAWN PRESS RELEASE

THE BECE TIMETABLE MUST BE REDRAWN
PRESS RELEASE
Another year is here again and we are going to abuse and torture our little brothers, sisters,
nieces, nephews, sons and daughters at the basic level.
Students at the Senior High School level who are older and more matured use a month to take
their West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) of eight subjects.
Sometimes, the students get two or three days intervals after each paper to prepare for the next,
which I think is very good.
Similarly, grown-up students at the tertiary level also use a month or two to sit for their
examination for “contents” they have learnt within a semester (usually four months).
Unfortunately, our little brothers and sisters at the Junior High School (JHS) with an average age
between 12 and 18 years are made to take nine papers in just a week! In fact, five days and
everyone is silent. These children are examined on “contents” they have learnt throughout their 9
-year basic education from Basic One to JHS Three.
The pupils are made to take two papers every day. They leave home early in the morning and
come home in the evening, late and exhausted. How can they prepare for the next day’s papers?
Surprisingly, I hear people say “we all went through it” but I ask myself, is it fair?
Let’s bear in mind that no matter how prepared and serious you are in class, you still need time
to revise before such an important examination. Can’t the BECE timetable be extended? It must
start now if it can.
EDWARD FRIMPONG,
NATIONAL DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS,
GHANA NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PRIVATE SCHOOLS (GNACOPS)
0547522601.
0249641349