34 Prison inmates sit 2024 BECE

The Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) which is organised every year in Ghana marks the transition from junior high schools to senior high schools and technical institutions in Ghana. This year, 34 prisoners from the Prisons Service are sitting the BECE.

The 34 candidates, who are all males, comprise 27 juveniles from the Senior Correctional Centre (SCC), five from the Nsawam Maximum Security Prison and two from the Sunyani Central Prison.

The Greater Accra Regional Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Prisons Service, DSP Loretta Valentina Amoah, in an interview said the inmates had been fully prepared by qualified trained teachers of the Service and some from the Ghana Education Service. She expressed the belief that the inmates would pass in all the subjects and come out with flying colours.

Additionally, she mentioned some challenges confronting the Service such as inadequate teaching and learning materials for the inmates to upgrade themselves.

She urged the public to come to the aid of the inmates, especially the juveniles and donate materials such as textbooks and past questions to enhance their studies and make learning fun.

In an interview, some of the candidates revealed that this year’s BECE would be one of the best due to how well they had been prepared by their teachers. They commended the teachers for their hard work and promised to make them proud.

The Service in its quest to deliver on its reformation and rehabilitation mandate in line with modern universal best practices, introduced formal education to the inmates on a pilot basis at the Senior Correctional Centre in 2007 and later extended it to the other prisons.

This was to help the inmates to acquire some basic literacy skills as well as certificates to facilitate their smooth reintegration. The first batch, which was made up of 21 juveniles and young offenders, sat the BECE in 2009 and recorded 100 per cent pass.

 The Service has been recording 100 per cent passes since 2009. Last year, 51 prisoners across the country sat BECE and also recorded a 100 per cent pass.