Review 2014 BECE final timetable — Mathematical association

The Mathematical Association of Ghana (MAG) has appealed to the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to consider amending the 2014 Basic Education Certificate Examination final timetable to make it student-friendly.

According to MAG, after a careful study of the 2014 BECE final timetable for June this year, the association has realised that the time and day allotted for Mathematics Paper 1 and 2 and  Integrated Science Paper 1 and 2 were not favourable.

According to the timetable, a copy of which was made available to the Daily Graphic, Mathematics Paper 1 and 2 are to be written in the afternoon of June 17, 2014 after the Integrated Science Paper 1 and 2 scheduled to be written in the morning of that same day.

In an interview with the Daily Graphic in Tema, the Greater Accra Regional President of MAG, Mr Jacob Kakra Wilson-Sey, said amending the timetable was necessary, arguing that even on the school timetable, Mathematics was not fixed in the afternoon. 

He said MAG, at its recent National Council Meeting in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region, drew the attention of WAEC to what it termed an anomaly and wrote officially, suggesting that the problem be corrected but the association was yet to receive any response from the examination body.

“I can tell you that a number of teachers, parents and students across the country are not in favour of these arrangements  in the timetable and will welcome an amendment to the timetable to make it student-friendly in view of the fact that these two subjects are considered as heavy weights and some students have negative attitude towards the subjects,” he said.

Mr Wilson-Sey, who is also the Assistant Headmaster of Queensland International School Junior High School at Sakumono, said MAG had written to WAEC and copied the Minister of Education and Director-General of the Ghana Education Service, seeking a review of the timetable and also proposed three sample timetables for the consideration of WAEC. 

He said  they were waiting for a response from these institutions.

Meanwhile some final-year pupils in both public and private schools who spoke to the Daily Graphic have expressed concern about the difficulties they were likely to encounter when the two subjects were written on the same day, stressing that the two subjects were very demanding.

Mr Isaac Allottey, a parent, told the Daily Graphic that WAEC must reconsider amending the timetable to prevent the additional stress that candidates would face if the timetable was not amended.