The centres included St. Thomas Aquinas, Accra Academy, Kaneshie Secondary Technical School and Labone Senior High School.

At the time of the visits, some students pursuing Chemistry under the General Science programme were busily seen in their laboratories, donning white laboratory coats, gloves, safety glasses and other protective gears mixing chemicals as part of their practical examination.

Their counterparts in the Generals Arts Department studying music were also put to the test with essay and objective questions after three years in the classroom whiles other candidates pursuing other courses were seen refreshing their minds in preparation of their papers.

At Labone SHS for instance, 60 students were sitting for the Chemistry paper while 24 wrote the Music paper out of 738 candidates who registered across six courses for the examinations.

Headmistress of the school, Mrs Cynthia Obuo Nti, told this paper that stringent measures had been put in place to avoid any form of examination malpractices during the eight-week haul.

She said the teaching staff had adequately prepared the 2018 batch for the examinations which will prepare them for higher studies.

She, however, appealed to government to address the infrastructure challenges of the school which she said affects smooth academic work on campus.

At Accra Academy, 80 General Science and 23 General Arts students wrote the chemistry practical and Music respectively out of the 676 registered for the WASSCE at the school this year.

The chemistry paper was written in two laboratories and in two batches.

The headmaster, Rev. William Garr, told the Ghanaian Times that the school had done its part by adequately preparing the students and was hopeful that they would excel in all the papers.

Rev. Garr said the school had a zero tolerance policy on examination malpractice and expressed confidence that the candidates would comply by the regulations set by WAEC.

The 15 General Science students at the Kaneshie Secondary Technical School who sat for the chemistry practical had finished when the Ghanaian Times arrived at the school at 11:00am.

Some of them told the Ghanaian Times they had “conquered” the practical and were hopeful that the rest of the examination would be smooth.

The Headmistress of the School,  Ms Pearl Bruce  said 450 students made up of 240 males and 210 females had been registered for the examination while all other preparations had been done to prevent hitches.

Although no examination was written at Accra Wesley Girls High School yesterday, because it did not offer music or chemistry, the 417  candidates registered at the day school had been “camped” at the school.

As of the time the Ghanaian Times arrived at the administration block, the Headmistress of the school, Mrs Cynthia Annan was interacting with the students and advising them against exams malpractices.

In a brief interaction with the paper, she appealed for more facilities for the school to enable it offer General Science.

In total, 316,985 candidates, comprising 158,542 males and 158,443 females, from 946 Senior High Schools (SHSs) across the country are sitting for the examinations this year; an increase of 27,280 from last year.

The figure includes 18 candidates made up of 11 males and seven females from Togo, who are taking part in the examination  meant for Anglophone West African countries; Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia and The Gambia.

The eight week examination which ends on Tuesday, May 15 has 946 supervisors and 10,566 invigilators, according to the West African Examination Council (WAEC) national office.

BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI AND JONATHAN DONKOR