61,506 Candidates to sit for CTVET exam

The Commission for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (CTVET) has announced that 61,506 candidates from public and private technical and vocational institutions across the country will sit for this year’s May/June Certificate II examination from Monday, May 18.

The figure represents an 8.6 per cent increase over last year’s candidature of 55,295, an indication of growing enrolment and confidence in technical and vocational education and training in the country.

The Director-General of  CTVET, Zakaria Sulemana, who announced this at a press conference in Accra last Wednesday, said the examination would be conducted at 169 centres nationwide, and end on June 12.

He explained that 278 public and private pre-tertiary TVET institutions would participate in the examination.

Mr Sulemana said this year’s examination would mark the maiden implementation of the interim harmonised curriculum for all TVET institutions aligned under the Ministry of Education and CTVET following the coming into force of the Education Regulatory Bodies Act, 2020 (Act 1023).

He said under the new arrangement, there would no longer be separate examinations for institutions previously examined under the National Vocational Training Institute (NVTI), the Technical Examinations Unit (TEU) and the former National Board for Professional and Technician Examinations (NABPTEX).

“All TVET institutions will take the same examination at the same time and at all examination centres,” he said.

The Director-General explained that candidates would write four core subjects — English Language, Mathematics, Integrated Science and either Social Studies or Entrepreneurship — in addition to their trade electives.

He added that Information and Communication Technology (ICT), although compulsory under the curriculum, would not be examined.

Mr Sulemana said the commission had strengthened supervision, invigilation and monitoring systems to ensure credible, transparent and secure examination.

He said CTVET would continue to deploy test serialisation across all core subjects and selected elective papers to minimise examination malpractice.

Under the system, he explained that multiple versions of the same examination paper would be generated with variations in the arrangement of questions and answer options while maintaining the same standards and level of difficulty.

“This approach significantly minimises opportunities for examination malpractice and discourages dependence on leaked questions, popularly referred to as ‘Apo’,” he said.

He added that six different series would be used for each paper developed under the serialisation system.

The Director-General further cautioned candidates against engaging in examination malpractice or relying on leaked questions circulated on social media.

“True success is built on hard work, competence and character,” he said.

He also warned supervisors, invigilators and examination officials to adhere strictly to examination regulations, adding that any form of collusion, negligence or misconduct would attract sanctions in accordance with the laws governing examinations in the country.

Gender participation

On gender distribution, Mr Sulemana said 45,357 candidates, representing 73.7 per cent, were males while 16,146, representing 26.3 per cent, were females.

He said 170 candidates with disabilities — comprising 92 males and 78 females — had also registered for the examination.

Mr Sulemana also said female participation had improved from 14 per cent last year to 26.3 per cent this year.

“It is not very high, but it is progress worth noting,” he said.