BECE begins throughout Ghana with minimal hitches The Director General of the Ghana Education Service, Professor Opoku Amankwa has assured candidates in this year's Basic Education Certificate Examination who could not select schools during the registration process that, they will be allowed to complete the process after the examination. He has also assured the candidates of adequate vacancies in secondary, technical and vocational schools in the country and urged the candidates to put in their efforts to excel in the ongoing examination. The Director General was addressing candidates in this year's Basic Education Certificate Examination in Tamale. Forty six thousand seven hundred and forty four 46,744 candidates across one hundred and forty one centers in the northern region are taking part in this year's examination which started across the country today. The Director General, the Northern Regional Minister, the Regional Director of Education, the Sagnerigu Municipal Chief Executive and some officials of the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly, visited the Tamasco and Ghanasco centers to observe the conduct of the examinations. The Northern Regional Minister Salifu Saed encouraged the pupils to take up technical and vocational courses to help develop the manpower needs of the country. The Northern Regional Director of Education, Alhaji Mohammed Haroun Cambodia warned headmasters to stay away from examination malpractices, adding that, any school caught in the act will be sanctioned severely. The Kumasi Metropolitan Chief Executive, Osei Assibey-Antwi has encouraged all BECE candidates to eschew all forms of examination malpractices. They should also revise their notes and follow instructions to avoid any trouble which can affect their future career prospects. Mr. Assibey-Antwi gave the advice when he visited some examination centres to interact with the BECE candidates today. He was accompanied by the Kumasi Metro Director of Education, Miss Monica Ankra and some members of the Education sub-committee of the Assembly. At the time of visit by the Metro Chief Executive to the Prempeh College examination centre, our correspondent Akosua Frema Frempong said the candidates were having morning devotion as a prelude to the start of the exams. At the New Mission Academy, the next stop of the Mayor, candidates were seated at the exam hall, anxiously waiting for the question paper to be handed to them. At the time, Mr. Assibey-Antwi visited the Islamic Senior High School exam centre, the candidates had begun writing the English Language Paper. In the Ashanti Region alone, students from 2,800 public and private schools are participating in the exams, while 369 centres have been designated for the exams. The total number of candidates sitting for this year’s BECE exams in the region is 105, 608. The number of candidates this year appreciated by 12,038 from last year’s figure. Meanwhile, about 509,824 candidates from more than 16,000 schools are sitting for this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination, BECE, which started throughout the country Monday morning. The Head of Public Affairs at the West African Examination Council, WAEC, Mrs. Agnes Teye Cudjoe who spoke to Ernest Obeng Anim said the Council has put in place security measures to ensure leakage free examination. She cautioned the candidates against falling prey to website operators who demand money with the promise of posting the questions on some websites. Mrs Teye Cudjoe appealed to stakeholders especially invigilators and supervisors to support WAEC to ensure an incident free examination. She also announced that selection of preferred Senior High Schools by candidates is still in progress even after the examinations. Meanwhile our correspondent Yvonne Atilego who went round some of the examination centres in Accra says the examinations started on schedule. GBCONLINE ---DECRYPTED---