The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) says a total of 569,095 candidates would sit for this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) which starts on Monday, July 8, 2024. 

This follows the release of GHȼ55,873,689.87 to the Council by the government. 

Mr John K Kapi, Head of Public Affairs, WAEC National Office, who announced this at a press conference in Accra said, the government was making arrangements for the release of the remainder of the examination fees to the Council.

The press conference was to update stakeholders and the public on the upcoming BECE for public schools and private candidates. 

Mr Kapi said candidates are expected to write English Language on July 8, and finish the examination with Arabic by Monday, July 15, 2024.  
 
He said out of the total number of candidates sitting for the BECE, 282,648 were males and 286,447 were females, with 19,506 schools participating in the examinations. 

 “This figure represents a decrease of 5.29 per cent compared to the 2023 entry figure of 600,900.” 

Mr. Kapi stated that the examination would be administered in 2,123 locations around the nation, with 2,123 supervisors, 1,889 assistant supervisors, and 19,973 invigilators on duty to ensure sure the examination runs smoothly. 

He said school candidates would be examined based on the newly introduced Common Core Curriculum, while private candidates would be examined on the old syllabus. 

“As part of arrangements for the smooth conduct of the examination, the Guidelines, Scheme and Structure of the examination with same questions were developed and circulated to all heads of school. Interested stakeholders can also visit our website to have access to them,” he said. 

Mr Kapi said in the case of the private candidates, the Council registered 1,366 candidates, out of which 735 were males and 631 were females. 

“This year’s figure is less by 25.7 percent compared with the 2023 entry figure of 1,839. Fifteen centres mainly in the regional capitals will be used for the BECE for private candidates.” 

Mr Kapi said the Council had organised sensitisation programmes to educate candidates on the rules and regulations governing the examination. 

He said the Council had also distributed examination stationery such as objective answer cards, answer booklets, pencils, among others, to District Education Offices throughout the country. 

WAEC had also made provisions for candidates with social educational needs, and it was making sure that no candidate was left out.