The Ghana Education Service (GES) says it is in discourse with the West African Examination Council (WAEC) for the 2021 West African Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) to be scheduled for September/October.
It also recommended that the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) should take place in November 2021.
The Director-General for GES, Professor Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, said the proposal is to allow students to prepare adequately for the exit exams.
“Per our arrangements, we expect that the next exams will be written in September/October, and we have already started discussions with WAEC on that,” he said at a press briefing in Accra on Monday, 4 January 2020.
He noted that the most appropriate dates for these exams will be September/October for WASSCE and November for BECE.
“We needed to make provision for marking and release of exam results and reopening, so, if we decide on October/November, it will be difficult for WAEC to release the exam results early enough for admissions to take place in January.”
So, per our calculation, we have proposed September /October, and we noticed that when we use these dates, we would have covered 1,700 hours and will only be short of one-hour contact period which we can always make up for,” he added.
In furtherance, he said the 2021 calendar for JHS would be run on a semester basis two semesters for the academic year.
Professor Opoku Amankwa expressed optimism that the exit examination time tables would revert to their normal dates by 2023.
“Looking into the future, WASSCE will be held in July/August and BECE in September for 2022. In 2023, WASSCE will then come back to our normal date which is May/June and then BECE will follow suit,” he disclosed.
President Akufo-Addo on March 16, 2021 ordered the closure of all schools in the country due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ghanaian students at all levels of education will be returning to school this month, January, as part of the government’s strategic measures combated to ease the COVID-19 induced restrictions on educational activities.
Prof Opoku-Amankwa said government would use the first and second weeks in January to disinfect all schools and put in place the necessary safety protocols for school activities to begin.
The reopening of the schools followed process instituted by the country in containing the spread of the virus.
