A total of 3,899 candidates including eight special needs children from 94 basic schools in Tema Metropolis on Monday commenced this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) with English language.

Out of the total, 1,818 are boys while 2,081 are girls.

Twenty-seven public schools account for 2,195 candidates while 1,704 candidates belong to 67 private schools in the metropolis.

Bernice Ofori, Tema Metropolitan Education Director, who together with the Tema Metropolitan Assembly Sub-committee on Education monitored the examination, indicated that the Metropolis had 13 BECE centres, 13 supervisors and 139 invigilators.

Mrs Ofori said her office officially wrote to the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) on the conditions of the eight special needs candidates to ensure that their needs were met.

She expressed satisfaction at the preparations for them and the general takeoff of the examination and reminded the candidates not to indulge in any examination malpractice. They must also strictly adhere to the Covid-19 protocols.

Madam Agatha Adrah, School Health Education Programme (SHEP) Coordinator, Tema Metro Education Directorate, said the eight special needs children were made up of visual impairment, hearing impairment and Down syndrome, indicating that four of them were students of SOS Hermann Gmeiner School.

Madam Adrah said a girl from Akodzo JHS who was partially visually impaired was given the permission to use a magnifying device acquired for her by the Tema Metropolitan Assembly from the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.

She explained that the girl’s condition came to the attention of the Directorate during the mock examination.

According to her  parents, she had an eye surgery but they could not do the subsequent review due to financial constraints hence the decision of the education directorate to seek support from TMA, she said. 

A visually impaired  boy from Deks School who is writing at Tema Methodist Day School has also been provided with an oral form of the paper, and one classroom allocated to him with supervision from the Special Needs Coordinator.

Madam Vivian Sinkari-Mahama, an Assistant Director at TMA, expressed satisfaction at the seating arrangements in the various examination halls as well as the observation of the COVID-19 protocols.

The GNA observed that the free hot-meal a day ordered by President Akufo-Addo for all BECE candidates in Ghana, was served  at the various centres.