He, therefore, charged candidates writing the examination across the country to take advantage of the opportunity to benefit from the free SHS programme.

“Just to indicate that we have space in all the over 900 SHS and technical vocational education and training institutions to accommodate all the over 600,000 that are sitting,” Rev. Fordjour said during a visit to the St Thomas Aquinas BECE Centre yesterday.  

Rev. Fordjour was accompanied by the Greater Accra Regional Director of Education, Stephen Bamfo; the La Dadekotopong Municipal Director of Education, Habiba Kotomah, and the Headmaster of the St Thomas Aquinas SHS, Paul Amoasi-Baidoo. 

The centre has five schools with a total candidature of 329 -164 males and 165 females with no absentee.

Rev. Fordjour encouraged the candidates to abide by the rules and regulations of the examinations.

He said the government was proud of the outcome of all the investment put in the candidates over the years and commended the orderly and smooth manner the examination was being conducted.

He said measures, including the serialisation of examination questions and others, had been put in place to ensure that the examination was conducted with very high integrity.

“Most of the reports we are getting indicate that things are orderly; we don’t hear of examination leakages like some years ago when BECE was fraught with one challenge or the other, examination malpractices, ‘apor’, and all that.

In this era, things are done very decently  — the serialisation that Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum’s leadership —put in place and WAEC also cooperated.

All these measures have ensured that we have an examination of very high integrity,” he said.  

Rev. Fordjour said the robust measures put in place by the Ministry of Education and WAEC had resulted in the arrest of seven teachers allegedly involved in examination malpractice.

“If there is anyone intending to perpetrate any infraction, they should be sure that we have put in place adequate vigilant measures so they would be flushed out.

A couple of isolated cases have been reported of some teachers allegedly doing something to support their students.

They have been arrested and investigations are ongoing,” he said.

Apart from the isolated cases, the deputy Education Minister said things were going on smoothly at all centres, adding that the “isolated cases that were picked up are even indications that we have put in place a robust system, which would not give space for anyone to play foul of the rules we have set up, to safeguard the integrity of our examination”.

Rev. Fordjour lauded the hard work of teachers and students in the general conduct of the examination.

He said there had been no policy to terminate the BECE and that the examination would continue to be what it was.

“There is no decision to write off or jettison BECE so that notion or perception should be disregarded,” he emphasised.

On the situation at the Gomoa Buduatta Junior High School, where two final-year students were not registered for the BECE, he said that had got to the attention of the ministry and would not be taken lightly.

“So that report which I am aware of is receiving serious attention and it is being investigated.

The necessary actions are being taken and anyone that is found culpable would be dealt with accordingly.

Therefore, we urge all our teachers to conduct themselves the way we know them to be,” he said.

The 2023 BECE started on Monday, August 7 and would end on August 11, 2023.  

The number of school candidates writing the examination is 600,714.