DON'T SACK PREGNANT WASSCE CANDIDATES-MoE

The Deputy Minister for Education in charge of Pre-Tertiary, Alex Kyereme has observed with concern the significant number of pregnant final year senior High School girls writing the ongoing West Africa Secondary Schools Certificate Examinations in the Ashanti region. 

The Deputy Minister has however warned officials of the Examination or school authorities against discriminating against such pregnant WASSCE candidates.

 Instead, the girls should be allowed to write the papers to the best of their abilities.

 Mr. Kyereme was addressing a section of the media after touring some of the WASSCE centres in the Ashanti region.

The Deputy Education Minister, who was accompanied by the Ashanti Regional Director of Education, Madam Mary Owusu Achiaw, explained that his tour of centres in the Ashanti region was in appreciation of the fact that the region is presenting the highest number of candidates for this year’s WASSCE. 

Out of the national figure of 274 thousand, 255 candidates, Ashanti region alone is presenting 62 thousand, 125 made up 31 thousand, 287 boys and 30 thousand, 838 girls. 

He visited six of the centres mainly in the Kumasi Metropolis, Atwima Nwabiagya, Ahafo Ano South and Ahafo Ano North Districts. 

In Kumasi, the Deputy Minister visited the Prempeh College and Yaa Asantewaa Girls SHS centres where no candidate absenteeism was reported, with management of the Yaa Asantewaa Girls SHS providing a standby medical team to cater for any eventualities in the course of the exam. 

The Deputy Education Minister visited also the Osei Tutu Senior High School Centre where two schools were writing the Social Studies Paper Two with five of the candidates of both schools reported absent.

 At the Mankranso SHS in the Ahafo Ano South district, four of the girls were said to be pregnant. They were all present to write the exam.

 Mr. Kyereme and the Ashanti Regional Director of Education, Madam Mary Owusu Achiaw were both not happy with the apparent relaxed supervision leading to the candidates moving out in droves with the excuse of attending to nature’s call at the same time. 

At the Tepa SHS in the Ahafo Ano North district where one thousand and 60 candidates presented by the school, were sitting for the Paper One of Social Studies at the time of the Deputy Minister’s visit, one of the girls was also said to be pregnant but was allowed to write. 

In the same district, five of the 225 candidates presented by the Maabang Senior High Technical School were absent, with one of them passing away before the start of the exam. 

At that centre too, one of the pregnant girls was also seen. No problem was reported at any of the centres visited. 

Mr. Kyereme expressed satisfaction with the general conduct of the exam in the region contrary to the reported isolated exam malpractices last year. 

He noted that even though some of the female candidates are pregnant, they still have a good future if they are able to pass the exam. 

Therefore, they should not be frustrated in writing the WASSCE.