Kofi Asare, Executive Director of Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch), has proposed a significant reduction in the number of subjects tested in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) from the current ten or eleven to just four. This proposal, made yesterday to the Daily Graphic, aims to shorten the examination period from five or six days to two, thereby reducing associated costs and student stress, especially as the BECE’s primary function has shifted from determining secondary school entry to school placement.
Shifting Purpose of the BECE
Historically, the BECE served as a critical gatekeeper for secondary education. Before the introduction of the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy in 2017, candidates typically needed an aggregate score of 35 or better to qualify for secondary school, with less than 65 percent achieving this threshold. This made the BECE a definitive screening examination.
However, the landscape has dramatically changed with the implementation of Free SHS. Now, approximately 98 percent of BECE candidates annually qualify for secondary education, with even those scoring an aggregate of 54 being admitted. Consequently, the BECE’s role has evolved from a proficiency test to primarily an exercise for school placement.
Proposed Structure for a Streamlined Exam
Given this shift in relevance, Asare questions the necessity of a ten-subject examination over several days for what is now essentially a placement exercise. He suggests a more focused approach, centering the examination on Mathematics, English, and Science – the three core subjects. These would be complemented by a single ‘General Paper’ that would encompass content from the remaining subjects.
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