The Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Dr Eric Nkansah, has sent a message of goodwill and his best of luck wishes to candidates sitting for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
This year’s candidates are the first group to be examined on the newly introduced Common Core Curriculum beginning Monday.
“As you begin this examination, remember that you are a special group of students making history as the first group of candidates to be examined on the newly introduced Common Core Curriculum — the standards-based curriculum,” he said.
The 2024 examination will take six days instead of the previous five due to the introduction of three new subjects.
The examination will start on Monday, July 8 and end on Monday, July 15, 2024.
The new subjects are Career Technology, Creative Art and Design, and Arabic.
Career Technology and Creative Art and Design, culled from the previous Basic Design and Technology (BDT), will be written by all the candidates, WAEC said.
Arabic will, however, be optional for candidates in Islamic basic schools.
The Director-General said the examination marked a crucial transition from basic education to senior high school and encouraged the candidates to approach the examination confidently, knowing that they had prepared thoroughly and had been well-equipped by their teachers and parents to achieve great results.
“As part of the arrangements to take this exam, I want to assure all our 569,095 candidates that the entire nation stands behind you,” Dr Nkansah said.
“As you sit for your examinations, I encourage you to stay focused, manage your time effectively, and believe in your abilities,” the Director-General of GES said, and urged them to “Remember to read and understand each question carefully before providing answers”.
A total of 569,005 final-year junior high school (JHS) students will sit for the maiden BECE for school candidates under the new Common Core Curriculum.
The basic education system is guided by a carefully designed body of knowledge, skills, values and core competencies.
The introduction of the Common Core curriculum was also intended to alter how teachers teach, emphasizing the utility of creative, inclusive pedagogies and improved classroom assessment practices.