No WASSCE in 2010

Director-General of the GES, Mr Samuel Bannerman-Mensah

The West African Examinations Council will not conduct the May/June 2010 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in Ghana.

This is because the current second-year students who started the four-year senior high school programme will next year be in their third-year and, therefore, cannot be eligible to participate in the examination.

It is only in 2011, when the students will be in the fourth and final year that they will be qualified to write the WASSCE. There will, however, be the November-December private candidates WASSCE in 2010.

This was contained in a letter issued by the Ghana Education Service (GES) to heads of senior high schools, outlining the calendar for the 2009-2010 academic year, a copy of which has been made available to the Daily Graphic.

“Please, note that there would be no West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in May/June 20:10. This calendar supersedes any other that has been published," the letter signed by a Deputy Director General of GES, Ms Benedicta Naana Biney, said.

According to the calendar, next year's Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) would be held from April 19 to 23, 2010. .

It said the first term for the 2009-2010 academic year for basic schools in the country would begin from September 15, 2009 and end on December 17, 2009, adding that pupils would then go on Christmas break from December 18, 2009 to January 11, 2009.

The second term for the academic year would begin from January 12, 2010 to April 15, 2010. Pupils would go on holidays from April 16, 20I0 to May 10, 20I0, after which the third term would commence from May 11, 2010 to July 29, 2010.

For senior high schools, the calendar indicated that the first term for the 2009-2010 academic year starts from September 11, 2009 to December 18, 2009, with holidays slated for December 19, 2009 to January 7, 2010.

The second term, it said, would commence from January 8, 2010 to April 9, 2010. Students would break for holidays from April 10, 2010 to April 29, 2010.

According to the calendar, senior high schools were to resume for the third and final term for the academic year from April 30, 2010 to August 5, 2010.

Meanwhile, the GES says it has taken cognisance of the involvement of a large number of serving teachers currently pursuing the Diploma in Basic Education by distance and sandwich in the Colleges of Education.

"In view of this, it has become necessary to synchronise the basic schools academic calendar with that of the Colleges of Education. By this arrangement, excuses by teachers to vacate classrooms to attend such programmes should therefore not be tolerated," a letter signed by the Director-General of the GES, Mr Samuel Bannerman-Mensah, said.