School proprietor arrested for allegedly stopping BECE candidates from writing Maths paper over unpaid fees

The proprietor of The Big Six Educational Complex at Meduma in the Kwabre East Municipality of the Ashanti Region has been arrested for allegedly unlawfully preventing two junior high school candidates from writing their mathematics paper in the 2025 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) due to unpaid fees.

He is said to have allegedly assaulted the students and locked them up in a separate room at the examination centre and only released them after the examination had concluded.

The police have arrested him on the grounds of an alleged assault by imprisonment.

According to a police statement, the proprietor, Afoakwa Sarpong was arrested on Monday, June 17, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. 

The arrest was carried out by the Municipal Director of Education for Kwabre East, Nana Adu Mensah Asare, who was accompanied by Ms Mavis Okyere Anane, Public Relations Officer of the Education Directorate.

The police indicated that Sarpong was handed over to the Mamponteng District Police Command in connection with an alleged offence of assault by imprisonment.

The arrest follows an incident reported to have occurred during the just ended BECE. Sarpong is alleged to have unlawfully barred two candidates from writing the Mathematics paper, claiming they had failed to settle their examination registration fees.

Preliminary investigations by the police suggest that the two students were confined in a separate room at the examination centre and were released only after the paper had ended.

According to the police, a formal investigation has been launched, and that due process will be followed in handling the case.