According to the MCE, the student who will be honoured with the Region’s top prize did not deserve the award as he secured relatively weaker scores in the exams than his colleague.

[contextly_sidebar id=”zAxlLQs3RjZzKCOmHYPWDsZbQAiMO8DF”]In the petition, the MCE insisted that the award should instead be given to one Miss Yakubu Hasantu, a student from his Municipality whom he said had attained seven Ones in the BECE.

Miss Hasanatu, according to the petition sighted by Citi News had attended a scheduled interview ahead of the naming of the award winner and had initially been informed that she would receive the award.

However, she later received news that another candidate had been chosen instead, despite having earned better scores.

The MCE is, therefore, calling on the president to ensure that the right person is awarded to ensure fairness and justice.

“She was invited for an interview which she attended. After the interview, she was informed that she has been selected for the award. Her parents were duly informed to prepare her for the award. Surprisingly, I got information that, she has been replaced by someone who obtained five ones.”

“It is against this backdrop that I have tendered in this petition on her behalf for your Excellency, the President of the Republic of Ghana to intervene for the right thing to be done, for justice and fairness to prevail in this matter, please,” the MCE added in the petition.

The president every year awards students who excel in the BECE from the 10 regions of the country on the 6th of March.

This serves as motivation for others to improve in their studies.

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By: Mohammed Aminu M Alabira/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post MCE petitions President over BECE award appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The examination, which is organized by the West African Examinations Council [WAEC], offers an avenue for candidates of previous examinations to improve their grades. It was first introduced in 2014.

[contextly_sidebar id=”ydeSrTN73mKFd3pfdDi8i6YD56IrpIIO”]Public Relations Officer for WAEC, Agnes Teye Cudjoe, told Citi News that individuals still in school are not eligible to partake in the examination.

She said students allowed to take the examination includes re-sitters and  those not in school who wish to take the exams the first time.

“We have re-sitters that are candidates who want to better their grades in one paper or the other, and we have first-timers, people who want to take the BECE for the first time, so these are the categories of people who are eligible to write the BECE for private candidates,” she said.

She also added that, students who take the examination can apply for Senior High School placement and also be added to regular students who will be writing the BECE in June.

“Candidates who take this examination, can apply for senior high school application online by going through the process and they can be added to regular students who would take the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in June when the placement is being done” she said.

Some candidates of the Private BECE who took part in the first day of the exams spoke to Citi News’ Marie-Franz Fordjour.

“I missed science, mathematics and English, I am positive I will pass this time around,” a candidate said.

“This is my first time of taking the BECE resit examination. I did not pass English and R.M.E in the previous one I took, so I wrote English today it was good,” another candidate said.

“I am just trying, this is my first time, I am writing all subjects, just to experience the pressure of writing Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE),” a candidate said

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By: Farida Yusif/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post BECE re-sit for private candidates takes off appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The registration fee is GHc 75 per candidate in both private and government schools.

This was contained in a memo sighted by Citi News, from the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to the Metropolitan, Municipal, District and Directors of Education.

The registration for the candidates is scheduled to take place from November 13 to December 15, 2017.

Students resitting are to register as private candidates.

WAEC warned the directors of education in the memo that it will “nullify entries of private schools that select school types wrongly and thereby do not pay fees.”

This marks the Akufo-Addo government’s latest intervention in public education after the implementation of the Free Senior High School policy which started in with the 2017/2018 academic year SHS entrants.

The BECE is required for both the certification and selection into Senior High Schools and Technical Institutions.

Is basic education really free?

The implementation of the Free Senior High School is good news for parents whose wards enrolled in second cycle institutions this year. However, for some parents in public basic schools, especially the Junior High School, the notion that basic education in Ghana is free under the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE), is just a fallacy.

In September this year, Citi News’ Farida Shaibu and Akosua Ofewaa Opoku, who visited some public Junior High Schools report that no student is admitted without having to pay for tuition, exercise books and in some cases, desks.

One of such schools is the Kwabena Atomic M/A 3 & 4 JHS located in the Dome Kwabenya constituency, where the education of a 12-year old prospective JHS girl was put on hold because her mother could not afford an amount of Ghc250 which was the total sum to be paid for various things demanded by the school.

Currently, Ghana has almost 10,000 public basic schools and public secondary schools hover around 578. The transition rate from Primary 6 to JHS1, according to the 2016 Education Sector Performance Report, has reduced by 4.4 percent nationally. This is from 99.1% in 2014/15, to 94.7% in 2015/16 academic year.

For deprived districts, this decline was even steeper: from 91.7% to 83.2% in 2015/2016.

The Ghana Education Service (GES) seems unaware that schools are charging what they term as unapproved fees. When contacted, the Public Relations Officer for the service, Reverend Jonathan Bettey, was furious about the development.

But on the minds of many Ghanaians, the question still remains as to why government is sponsoring Free SHS when the very foundation, JHS, is being neglected? With the current situation, only parents who can afford to pay over GHC400 per term can get their wards to finish JHS and progress to enjoy Free SHS.

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Gov’t to pay 2018 BECE registration fees for candidates appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

WAEC withheld 1,298 subject results of some candidates who sat for the examination on suspicion that they may have engaged in examination malpractices.

[contextly_sidebar id=”8EVOBob7bq3SnbeJmf0WR9b61m4y9Z96″]According to the Head of Public Affairs of the West Africa Examination Council, Agnes Teye-Cudjoe, students whose results were withheld will be able to see if their results were cleared by end of day today [Tuesday].

“At the meeting, we decided to take action and by the close of work today when candidates go online and check their results, they’ll be able to know their fates,” she told Citi News.

“We’ve taken action on all the results so whether it will be released or cancelled, action has been taken. I’ll not be able to give details on how many have been cancelled and how many have been released now.”

She also confirmed that the schools in which the “irregularities” were detected had already been written to “and we’re waiting for the responses.”

The affected candidates were cited for various malpractices during and after the examination.

According to Agnes Tei Cudjoe, the number excludes candidates who were detected by the Item Differentia Profile (IDP) software to have cheated in the object test.

A total of 468,060 candidates sat for this year’s examination. The number comprises 241,145 males and 226,906 females.

According to WAEC, the number represents a 1.53 percent increase from the 2016 figure. It noted that, 3,315 of the registered candidates did not turn up for the examination sitting.

The candidates were from a total of 15,185 schools and the examination took place at 1,702 examination centres.

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By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post WAEC completes probe into over 1,000 withheld BECE results appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The new deadline according to a statement signed by the Minister of Education, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, is now the end of September 2017.

“The deadline for accessing the internet to complete the computerized school selection placement (CSSPS) process, has been extended to the end of September 2017. The website is www.cssps.gov.gh. The Ministry assures parents and guardians that no child who qualified to be placed in a public Senior High School will be left behind,” the statement added.

Background

The Computerized School Selection Placement System (CSSPS) initially encountered some challenges, with error notices greeting some BECE graduates who had been trying, since September 1, to access the website for self-placement.

But the government said these problems had been addressed, following the setting up of a new website.

The original website for the self-placement, www.myjhsresult.net, now contains a link that directs users to the new website, www.cssps.gov.gh.

The issues with the CSSPS began following the Ghana Education Service’s (GES) announcement of an extension for the placement of BECE candidates, after it emerged that over 100,000 qualified candidates had still not been placed.

The GES asked qualified students who were not placed to go online, and select an option available during the extended window.

Prior to the extension to September ending, parents had up to midnight of Friday, September 8, 2017, to register their wards online.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post New deadline for SHS placements now September 30 appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

This marks the third such extension. The GES has said this is to allow some 40,000 Basic Education Certificate Graduates (BECE) graduates, who had challenges in securing places, to do so.

[contextly_sidebar id=”g5wJPW5CvhWHAcXQ3pKWL39SeA1jVOtM”]”The closing date that is supposed to be [Thursday] is being extended to [today] midnight, so that we allow people who have not been able to access the website to do so before it is too late,” Reverend Jonathan Bettey, the Public Relations Officer of the GES noted to Citi News.

Rev. Bettey also added that, people had problems assessing their website because of problems in keying in the website address and that “if you [make mistakes] there is no way you will be able to get the website correctly.”

The Computerized School Selection Placement System (CSSPS) initially encountered some challenges, with error notices greeting some BECE graduates who had been trying, since September 1, to access the website for self-placement.

But the government said these problems had been addressed, following the setting up of a new website.

The original website for the self-placement, www.myjhsresult.net, now contains a link that directs users to the new website, www.cssps.gov.gh.

The issues with the CSSPS began when the GES announced an extension for the placement of BECE candidates after it emerged that over 100,000 qualified candidates had still not been placed.

The GES asked qualified students who were not placed to go online and select an option available during the now-extended window.

These challenges have led some anxious parents to express fears that their wards may miss the deadline, but government assured that no candidate would be cut off by the deadline.

Uncertainty over reporting date

Meanwhile, Citi News checks in the Central Region has revealed that prospective senior high school students who have been to various schools in the Region are still uncertain about their reporting dates.

Heads of these schools say they are yet to receive the list of enrolled students from the GES hence the uncertainty, according to Citi News’ Central regional correspondent, Joseph Ackon Mensah.

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By: Philip Nii Lartey/Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post SHS placement extended for the third time appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The students failed to score Grade 9 in either English or Mathematics in the exams.

[contextly_sidebar id=”UpEzBVr4j9R6t1LETB4ukXEcbsXt4eh6″]Although the date for the BECE resits have not been set yet, the Education Ministry assured the students who weren’t placed that they’ll get the opportunity to resit their papers

“Students who did resits are part of the students going to school this year. If you don’t get in you have an opportunity to resit and be part of the students placed next year” Deputy Education Minister, Yaw Osei Adutwum said.

With the introduction of the Free SHS Policy, there’s been a surge in interest in the numbers of students who have been placed in the various Senior High Schools (SHSs) this year, and those who will miss out.

However, a few of students who weren’t placed told Citi News‘ Philip Nii Lartey that they would not resit the papers even if they got a chance to do so.

“I don’t know [if I will resit the BECE]. I want to go to a technical school so I will go and work as a mason,” one of the students said.

“I will not write the papers again, I put my all into the initial exam,” another said.

Listen to the full report from Philip Nii Lartey

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By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Over 36, 000 students face resit after BECE failure [Report] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Of the 872 SHSs in Ghana, 66% are government-managed while the remainder is privately owned.

Also worthy of notice in the data is the fact that the Eastern Region, which has the second highest number of Senior High Schools in Ghana, 112, receives the most number of Junior High School graduates from other regions to pursue their Secondary education there.

The Eastern Region also records the highest competition rate; the percentage of SHS students who are able to successfully complete SHS.

Greater Accra has the lowest percentage rate of 27.5%, indicating that about 72% of students who attend Senior High School in Accra do not complete.

See the infographic below for a breakdown of the figures across the country.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Regional distribution of Senior High Schools in Ghana [Infographic] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The original website for the self-placement, www.myjhsresult.net, now contains a link that directs users to the new website, www.cssps.gov.gh.

This development follows reports of challenges encountered by BECE candidates who have been trying, since September 1, to secure their placement via the Computerized School Selection Placement System (CSSPS).

Some persons who sought to access the previous website were met with error notices after several attempts.

The government admitted to challenges in the process noting that its servers were overwhelmed.

A Deputy Minister of Education in charge of pre-Tertiary Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, noted that government was collaborating with some service providers and providing some back-ups as a solution.

The issues with the CSSPS began when the GES announced an extension for the placement of BECE candidates after it emerged that over 100,000 qualified candidates had still not been placed.

The GES asked qualified students who were not placed to go online and select an option available during a window that will end on today [Tuesday, September 5].

These challenges have led some parents to express fears that their wards may miss the deadline but Dr. Adutwum assured that no candidate would be cut off by the deadline.

“…So parents should not panic. What we are saying is that, we will give you the opportunity; at the end of the two days, if your child is not enrolled we are not going to cut them off. We will work with you, we are monitoring the situation” he said at a press conference on Monday.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post GES sets up new site to deal with SHS placement appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The deadline is now midnight on Thursday, September 7, 2017.

[contextly_sidebar id=”KnMpiI9s4PPSHPN4JMdLpqtGO82BKnjp”]A statement signed by the Deputy Minister of Education in charge of pre-Tertiary Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, said this extension was done “in view of the challenges experienced.”

The Computerized School Selection Placement System (CSSPS) encountered some challenges, with error notices greeting some BECE graduates who have been trying, since September 1, to access the website for self-placement.

The government admitted to challenges in the process noting that its servers were overwhelmed.

A new website for the BECE self-placement process has also been set up by the GES.

The original website for the self-placement, www.myjhsresult.net, now contains a link that directs users to the new website, www.cssps.gov.gh.

The issues with the CSSPS began when the GES announced an extension for the placement of BECE candidates after it emerged that over 100,000 qualified candidates had still not been placed.

The GES asked qualified students who were not placed to go online and select an option available during the now-extended window.

These challenges have led some anxious parents to express fears that their wards may miss the deadline, but government assured that no candidate would be cut off by the deadline.

–

By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post GES extends placement deadline for BECE candidates again appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.