18 students in the Wenchi Municipality of the Bono Region were absent on the first day of the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).

Out of the 18, 2 of the absentees are girls from Droboso L/A Junior High School (JHS) who have been reported dead after registering to write the BECE.

The Wenchi Municipal Examination Coordinator, Seth Mensah, who revealed this in an interview on Monday further said “no reason has been given for the absenteeism of the rest 16 candidates.

Mr. Mensah however, commended teachers, and pupils for comporting themselves to ensure safety and the successful completion of day one of the examination.

He stated total of 2058 candidates were expected to write this year's BECE being held at 11 centres across the Wenchi Municipality.

“Of the total number of candidates, 996 are boys and 10912 girls drawn from 85 public and schools within the municipality,” Mr Mensah added.

He was optimistic the examination will be conducted successfully devoid of negative incident, adding “I caution all the actors in this examination process in the Wenchi Municipality to eschew examination malpractices that could result in cancellation of the papers”.