A total of 10, 365 candidates in the Kumasi Metropolis are writing this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).

The number comprises 4, 990 boys and 5, 375 girls, according to statistics made available by the Ghana Education Service (GES).

This was made known when the Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), Mr. Osei Assibey-Antwi, toured some of the examination centres in Kumasi on Monday.

The visit was to show solidarity and also encourage the candidates not to panic as they write the BECE, which spans September 14-18, this year.

More importantly, it afforded the MCE the opportunity to assess at first hand the level of preparation put in place to ensure a successful exercise, especially adherence to the COVID-19 safety protocols.

Centres visited included; T.I. Ahmadiyya Senior High School (SHS), Kumasi Anglican SHS and Armed Forces SHS.

In all, there are 43 examination centres in the metropolis clustered into 17 identifiable locations.

Mr. Assibey-Antwi, addressing the candidates before their exams on Monday morning, asked them to be studious.

They should concentrate on the task ahead, the MCE noted, urging the candidates to abide by the examinations’ rules and regulations devoid of any malpractices.

Meanwhile, a total of 106,845 candidates from 423 schools are writing the BECE examination in the Ashanti region.

The number is 20.01 percent of the national total of candidates writing the examination.

Mr Mark Darko, Public Relations Officer of the Ashanti Regional Directorate of the Ghana Education Service (GES) told journalists in Kumasi that the examination was going on in about 420 centres with 3,554 invigilators and 351 supervisors.

He said all the Covid-19 protocols had been put in place to ensure the safety of both the candidates and invigilators.