Entrance exams to replace BECE when Free SHS bill is passed – Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum

Ghana’s Minister for Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum has announced that, in the future, basic level students will no longer write the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) but will instead take entrance exams to advance to the Senior High School (SHS).

Speaking in an exclusive interview on GTV’s Breakfast Show on Thursday August 8, 2024, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum emphasized that, in the 21st century, completing Senior High School is crucial, and that is where certificate exams will be taken, not at the Junior High level.

Dr. Adutwum explained that the Free Secondary Education bill provides for government-funded resources to ensure free quality secondary education for all children. Under this bill, Junior High School is classified as lower secondary and will no longer be part of basic schools, effectively giving Ghana a six-year secondary education system.

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He noted that lower secondary schools can operate separately but will offer equal opportunities for learning as senior high schools.

He stated that making secondary education compulsory eliminates the need for the BECE as a certificate exam.

Responding to recommendations from Africa Education Watch to include a compulsory subject on basic practical agriculture in the SHS curriculum reform, Dr. Adutwum suggested that this could be part of the lower secondary curriculum, exposing students to agriculture and helping them decide to pursue it further in upper secondary school.

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