Two pregnant girls, farmer, 46, write BECE

Two pregnant girls and a 46-year-old farmer, Mathias Bayuo, were among 165 candidates, made up of 98 boys and 67 girls, who wrote the just-ended Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) at Nsuta, near Techiman, in the Brong Ahafo Region.

Mr Emmanuel Adjei, the Supervisor at the centre, who disclosed this to a Deputy Minister of Education, Mr Alex Kofi Kyeremeh, during a visit to monitor the examination, said the two girls were in hearty mood as they wrote the papers.

In an interaction with The Mirror, Mr Bayuo explained that he was a farmer at Nkrankrom Kwansua in the Wenchi Municipality, and that he decided to enrol in school because he had realised that without education he could not achieve anything in life.

Additionally, he said, as a farmer, he would be able to apply the acquired knowledge in agricultural practice, especially when marketing his produce.

If by God’s grace he obtains good grades, Mr Bayuo, who he is cultivating yams, maize and cassava, says he will further his education until he reaches the ultimate in life.

Married with five children, he said his wife was taking care of the children and the farms, adding that he did not feel intimidated by anyone in the school while the teachers reciprocated the respect he showed to them but noted that some of his classmates teased him at times but that was not a bother to him.

According to him, he has tried to stomach the unsavoury circumstances so as to concentrate on his studies.

Mr Bayuo said the only times when the teachers punished him was when his mates misbehaved, which warranted that they all should be punished as a group.

The deputy minister used the occasion to advise the pupils to study hard in order to achieve their academic ambition and support themselves and their families.

Mr Kyeremeh commended the two pregnant girls for mustering courage to write the examination and presented a piece of clothing material to the 46-year-old man as a token to encourage him to continue with his ambition of attaining the highest level of education.


From Akwasi Ampratwum-Mensah, Techiman Nsuta/The Mirror/Ghana