BECE candidates who fled Chereponi conflict return to sit exams

Some Junior High School (JHS) students who fled fighting in Chereponi in the North East Region have returned to sit the Basic Education Certification Examination (BECE).

The candidates are being conveyed back to the town to sit for the exams despite losing several contact hours.

Some of the candidates who fled fighting between Chokosis and Konkombas are being accommodated at the examination centre amid heavy security.

Some 96 candidates from the Chereponi EP Junior High School, where a student’s passionate appeal for peace grabbed headlines, will be sitting for this year’s BECE which starts Monday, June 10.

The headmaster of the school, Samuel Agyare, told Joy News that some students who fled as far back as January when the conflict broke out are back to sit for the first papers Monday morning.

He revealed that the local government authorities have provided a vehicle to convey some of the candidates from their shelter to the examination centres.

With the students having lost over 31 days of contact hours due to the fighting, there are questions about their preparedness for the exams.

Mr Agyare fears some of the candidates may not be adequately prepared psychologically and emotionally.

Relative calm

There is calm in Chereponi currently, however, police remain on high alert.

The long-drawn-out violence has led to many deaths and displaced hundreds. The latest clashes led to the death of two persons.

Police have picked up some persons in connection with the violence.

The two ethnic groups have been fighting over ownership of a small piece of land.

Over 7,000 more candidates this year

A total of 517,332 final-year junior high school (JHS) students are expected to write this year’s BECE.

They comprise 263,616 males and 253,716 females.

Last year, 509,824 candidates took the examination, meaning that there has been an increase of 7,508 candidates.

The 2019 BECE candidates, who are from 16,871 public and private JHSs, will write the examination at 1,880 centres across the country.

The examination, which will be written from June 10 to 14, 2019, will be manned by 1,880 supervisors and 18,136 invigilators.

Source: Myjoyonline.com