Eleven BECE Candidates Cannot Write Exam

It has now been confirmed that the 11 JSS Three students of the Ghana National Preparatory School (GHANAPS) at Nungua in Accra whose proprietor did not register them for this year's Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), cannot write the examination.

The Ghana Education Service (GES) has stated that there was nothing that could be done to enable the affected students to write the examination.

The Head of the Private School Unit of the GES, Mr Bertimus Bagbin, told the Daily Graphic yesterday that between now and Monday when the examination would begin, nothing could be done.

He said initially when he received complaint from parents of the affected students, he made some efforts to see how best they could be assisted but realised that the time was too short to salvage the situation.

Mr Bagbin said at the moment, all the materials for the examinations were set and that nothing could be done to compromise the integrity and security of the examination.

The Proprietor of GHANAPS, Mr Theophilus Tei Okunnor, who also doubles as the headmaster, did not register the students for the BECE because he had squandered their registration fees.

Mr Okunnor, who is a former Assembly Member for East Nkpor Electoral Area in Nungua, was last Tuesday remanded in police custody, together with the Assistant Headmaster, Mr Ben Nyamekye, after appearing before the La Magistrate Court on a preliminary charge of stealing.

Although BECE candidates are required to pay ¢41,000, which is 28 per cent of the registration fee of ¢146,000, with the government absorbing the remainder, the parents and students claimed that they were made to pay ¢100,000 as registration fees for the examination.

Daily Graphic enquiries indicated that Mr Okunnor had all along told parents of the students that he had registered them for the BECE until last Monday, one week to the commencement of the BECE, when circumstances forced the truth out.