Executive director of the Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch), Kofi Asare, has expressed the need for students who recently sat for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) to be mindful of the programme they choose in anticipation of gaining admission into senior high schools.

According to him, students must factor in their strengths and assess their weaknesses in making a choice as it will determine whether they will be guaranteed admission in their choice of school. He revealed that students must not necessarily choose schools which are popular, especially if they have no chance of being admitted.

“BECE is over… Be mindful of the program you choose; it can determine the SHS you get. Science is very competitive in Cat A SHS. Today’s decision has consequences tomorrow. Cut your cloth… No school is a bad one. We attended Cat C schools at a time teachers were scarce but are making Cat A impact on society today.”
Kofi Asare

Furthermore, Mr Asare urged parents of the students to be interested in their children’s choice of schools. He emphasized that parents must be involved in the school selection.

“Make a reasonable school selection based on your own realistic assessment of your ward’s academic performance in school, not BECE expectations. Don’t leave that decision to your ward, Lead! If you know your ward is not an A student, and more so a private JHS candidate, don’t go choosing Cat A schools and bring us wahala tomorrow…”
Kofi Asare

School selection for BECE candidates

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education has revealed that the school selection for 2023 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) candidates will start from August 23, 2023, to September 04, 2023.

During the period, it indicated that candidates will be required to acquire the selection forms, fill and submit them to their Junior High School head teachers.

Contained in a statement signed by Spokesperson for the ministry, Kwasi Kwarteng, it stated that the Ministry in its bid to provide clarity and guidance on the process developed an informative video that elaborated on the school selection guidelines.

Furthermore, it explained that the video would be featured in schools and on various television networks across the country. It equally highlighted that the video and the selection form will also be accessible on the official website of the Free Senior High School (SHS) Secretariat.

Additionally, the Ministry stated that it will be organizing school showing of selection guidelines video from August 21, 2023, to August 25, 2023. It however revealed that specific date and time for respective schools will be communicated to students by various JHS head teacher in the country.

It be recalled that this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination for School and Private Candidates commenced on Monday, August 7, to Friday, August 11, 2023 across the country.

A total of 600,714 Candidates comprising 300,323 males and 300,391 females, took part in the School Examination which is an increase of 8.8 percent from the 2022 data. With regard to the Private BECE, 1,743 candidates registered, which is an increase of 5.4 percent from 2022.

Ahead of the examination, the head of West Africa Examinations Council, John Kapi, revealed that the Revised Rules and Regulations for dealing with cases of irregularity in the Councils Examinations will be put to use for the first time in the examinations. To this end, he urged invigilators, students and all stakeholders to comply by the rules to ensure a smooth conduct of the examination.