BECE Starts Today With 569,095 Candidates To Write Exam

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has disclosed a total of 569,095 candidates, would sit for this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) which starts today Monday, July 8, 2024.

Out of the total number of candidates sitting for the BECE, 282, 648, were males and 286,447, were females, with 19,506 schools participating in the examinations at 2,123 centres across the country.

According to WAEC, “This figure represents a decrease of 5.29 per cent compared to the 2023 entry figure of 600,900.”

This, follows the release of some GH¢55.9 million by the government to WAEC for the conduct of the examination.

The Head of Public Affairs at WAEC, Mr John K Kapi, who announced this at a press conference in Accra on Friday, July 5, said the government was making arrangement for the release of the remainder of the examination fees to the Council

The press conference was to update stakeholders and the public on the upcoming BECE for public schools and private candidates.

Mr Kapi, said candidates are expected to write English Language on July 8, and finish the examination with Arabic by Monday, July 15, 2024.

He stated that the examination would be administered in 2,123 locations around the nation, with 2,123 supervisors, 1,889 assistant supervisors, and 19,973 invigilators on duty to ensure sure the test ran smoothly.

He said school candidates would be examined based on the newly introduced Common Core Curriculum, while private candidates would be examined on the old syllabus.

“As part of arrangements for the smooth conduct of the examination, the Guidelines, Scheme and Structure of the examination with same questions were developed and circulated to all heads of school. Interested stakeholders can also visit our website to have access to them,” he said.

Mr Kapi, disclosed thatd in the case of the private candidates, the council registered 1,366 candidates, out of which 735 were males and 631 were females.

“This year’s figure is less by 25.7 percent compared with the 2023 entry figure of 1,839. Fifteen (15) centers mainly in the regional capitals will be used for the BECE for private candidates.”

The council, Mr Kapi, said had organized sensitization programmes to educate candidates on the rules and regulations governing the examination.

He told reporters, the council had also distributed examination stationery, such as objective answer cards, answer booklets, pencils, among others, to District Education Offices throughout the country.

The WAEC, had also made provisions for candidates with social educational needs, and it would make sure that no candidate was left out.