JHS students likely to write BECE without access to any textbook – Kofi Asare

Benjamin Lartey January 4, 2024

0 1 minute read

JHS students likely to write BECE without access to any textbook – Kofi Asare

Junior high school (JHS) pupils may have to face the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) without access to any textbooks, according to Kofi Asare, Executive Director of Africa Education Watch.

He claims that since the government finalised the Common Core curriculum, there has been a change in the curriculum.

He underlined that the elementary school curriculum and the Common Core curriculum were not finalised on the same day.

Speaking on Wednesday, January 3, on JoyFM’s Super Morning Show, Mr. Asare said that the first group of students utilising the Common Core curriculum would take the BECE test the following year.

He emphasised that if efforts are not made to provide textbooks between now and June, these students might be “writing BECE without seeing any textbooks” as they have commenced learning under the Common Core.

ALSO READ: Adentan Education Director exhorts teachers to keep doing their absolute best

Mr. Asare added that because of a disagreement between the publishers and the government, he does not expect textbooks to be available.

He states that the publishers assert they have not received anything from the government.

“When they were promised that the government was giving them 100% local content in the publication of textbooks, they were all happy, and they went and procured loans to print textbooks, and then they have not been paid. They owe about 90% of what they do,” he said.

The Executive Director emphasised how serious the issue is by pointing out how expensive it is to produce textbooks.

He also highlighted that textbooks are not ready, much alone the procurement procedure, if publishers have not received payment.

“That’s why I don’t see the junior school textbooks happening anytime between now and the next BECE,” he concluded.