Professor Kwasi Opoku-Amankwah
The Police in the Afram Plains South District of the Eastern Region are holding two young boys for allegedly impersonating two candidates in the ongoing Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE) at the Presby Examination Center at Tease.
The suspects- Owusu James, 20, and Atta Kay, 19, were arrested while writing the General Science Papers for Nkrumah Bright and Opoku George, who are JHS students of St James Academy at Mame Krobo.
DSP Ebenezer Tetteh, the Eastern Regional Police Spokesman, who confirmed the incident, said the suspects were handed over to the Police by Ntumy Ernest, the GES officer in-charge of WAEC at Donkorkrom and Mr. Addo, an assistant supervisor at the examination centre.
He said that the suspects are currently in custody assisting in police investigations.
In another related development, about 70 candidates of Eastern Premier School at Effiduase in the New Juaben North Municipality were unable to sit for the BECE due to the failure of their headmaster to register them.
The candidates were taken to two centers in the Atiwa West District to write the exams, but were denied access to the exams hall.
Each affected student reportedly paid GH?220.000 as registration fee.
A parent, Mr Sarfo, who confirmed the incident to Brty Fm, Koforidua-based radio station, said the “school authorities didn’t even tell us they were transporting the candidates to Akrofufu, which is far from Koforidua where the school is located. My son called me on Monday morning and complained that he and his colleagues had been prevented from taking part in the exams.”
The proprietor of the school, Moro Saka confirmed that the candidates had been denied access to the exams hall due to the failure of coordinator, who led the registration exercise in the school, to register them.
He said his outfit was doing everything possible to address the problems.
“We registered the pupils with the help of the coordinator but unfortunately, upon arrival at the center, they were denied access to the exams hall. We are doing everything possible to address the issues,” he explained.
Further checks from the Regional and Municipal Office of the Ghana Education Service (GES) indicated that the Eastern Premier School is operating as a remedial school.
From Daniel Bampoe, Donkokrom