Pregnant candidates, nursing mothers writing BECE
Expectant and nursing mothers are among candidates writing this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) across the country.
Eleven nursing mothers and 14 pregnant teenagers are among 2,058 candidates taking part in the BECE in the Wenchi municipality, while two nursing mothers and a pregnant girl are writing the examination in the Techiman South municipality, both in the Bono Region.
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The ages of the candidates, as well as the names of the schools they attend, have not been disclosed.
The Wenchi Municipal Director of Education, Mrs Mary Nyarko Adutwum, told the Daily Graphic that the nursing mothers were being assisted by babysitters to take care of their babies while the mothers wrote their papers.
She called on people in communities where pregnant teenagers and nursing mothers were writing the BECE to show them love and encourage them to finish the examination.
In the Central Region, about 45 pregnant girls are among the candidates who are set to complete the BECE tomorrow.
In the Efutu municipality in the region, 20 pregnant girls are among 1,758 candidates writing the examination at centres ‘A’ and ‘B’ in Winneba, while 25 pregnant girls are among those taking the examination in the Ajumako Enyan Essiam District — seven in Ajumako, four at Mando, eight at Bisease, three at Ocheso and three at Sonkwa
They are part of the 1,451 females out of the 2,783 candidates writing the BECE in the area.
Teenage pregnancies
Meanwhile, the Wenchi Municipal Director of Health, Mr Robert Kwaku Bio, has disclosed that 410 teenage pregnancies were recorded in the municipality between January and September this year, as against 615 recorded in the same period in 2020.
In 2019, some 584 teenage pregnancies were recorded in the same period, as against 580 between January and September 2018.
Mr Bio appealed to chiefs to come up with bye-laws to prevent teenagers from going out in the night, in addition to banning them from attending wakes and funerals.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Wenchi, Alhaji Seidu Haruna, commended the pregnant teenagers and the nursing mothers for their determination to be back in school, despite their situation, and wished all the candidates well.
He commended teachers and parents, as well as other stakeholders in the educational sector, for their contribution towards preparing the candidates for the examination.
Prison inmates
Meanwhile, 32 inmates of the Senior Correctional Centre and Nsawam Medium Security Prison are writing this year’s BECE.
Inmates of the Senior Correctional Centre have, since 2009, sat for the BECE and recorded 100 per cent pass each year.
The Director-General of the Ghana Prisons Service, Mr Isaac Kofi Egyir, said he believed that the candidates had been adequately prepared, and that they would excel in the examination.
He advised the candidates to desist from acts that would amount to examination malpractice.
