WASSCE written papers begin with Oral English - Exam for Ghana only
The written aspect of the Ghana Only Version of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for School Candidates (SC) took off smoothly at the various centres of the country yesterday.
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The first paper, Oral English, was written by all students taking part in the WASSCE-SC.
However, at some of the senior high schools (SHSs), the candidates had to be divided into batches since the small nature of the assembly halls could not accommodate all of them at a go.
At the Accra High School where the Daily Graphic visited, for instance, the 769 candidates were divided into three batches.
At the time of the visit, the candidates were being searched as they made their way into the examination hall.
The male invigilators searched the male candidates, while the females searched the females to prevent them from taking any foreign material into the examination hall.
Security
Police personnel were also on standby to provide security and ensure the smooth conduct of the examination.
Before the commencement of the paper, the Headmistress of the school, Evelyn Sagbil Nabil, advised the candidates to endeavour to report to the examination centre early to avoid lateness.
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She said they should also comport themselves and focus on their books in order to excel.
Ms Nabia told the Daily Graphic that things had been smooth since the examination began.
“We have been doing the practicals for some time now and so far, so good.
Today is the beginning of the written papers where all candidates are involved and as you can see the place is calm,” she noted.
She explained that the assembly hall could not contain all the 769 students; hence, the decision to divide the candidates into three batches.
She said the rest of the candidates were quarantined as the others took turns to write the examination.
The Head of Public Affairs of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), John Kapi, said reports that the council had received from the various schools indicated that the examination had been incident-free.
Commencement
The WASSCE-SC began in the country on July 31 with project works in Basketry, Ceramics and Graphic Design.
After yesterday’s examination, all the candidates will on Monday, August 28, 2023, write Social Studies, a core paper, the WAEC timetable for the WASSCE-SC, has indicated.
Another core paper, English Language, is slated for Thursday, September 7, 2023, with Core Mathematics taking place on Thursday, September 14, 2023.
Integrated Science, which is also a core paper, is scheduled for Monday, September 18, 2023.
The examination will end on Tuesday, September 26, 2023, with Literature-In-English (Drama & Poetry), Jewellery and Woodwork.
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Candidature
In all, 447,204 candidates, made up of 211,834 males and 235,370 females, are sitting the examination at 834 centres across the country.
The total candidature represents an increase of 24,321 over last year’s 422,883.
Final-year students from 975 second cycle schools are participating in the examination, which is being written for the second consecutive time in Ghana.
This is in addition to a total of 834 supervisors, 2,243 assistant supervisors and 14,907 invigilators.
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Girls have outnumbered boys in the ongoing WASSCE-SC for the second successive time.
For instance, out of the 447,204 candidates, 211,834 are males as against 235,370 females.
This is a repeat of last year’s scenario where out of the total number of 422,883 candidates, 203,753 were males and 219,130 were females.
Statistics from the WAEC made available to the Daily Graphic indicated that the Ashanti Region has the highest number of candidates; 107,061, made up of 51,404 males and 55,657 females.
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The Ahafo, Bono and Bono East regions together would have the second-highest number of candidatures of 65,731, made up of 31,341 males and 34,390 females.
The Eastern Region comes third with 60,516 candidates - 28,120 males and 32,396 females, while the Central Region, with some of the top second cycle schools in the country, has 54,084 candidates involving 24,520 males and 29,564 females.
Others
Forty-two thousand three hundred and thirty-eight candidates (19,705 males and 22,633 females) are from the Greater Accra Region, while the Volta and Oti regions jointly present 37,594 candidates; 18,408 males and 19,186 females.
In the case of the Western and Western North regions, 32,705 candidates are sitting the WASSCE-SC.
Moreover, 25,295 candidates (13,297 males and 11,998 females) are expected to participate in the examination in the Northern, North East and Savannah regions.
The entry figures of the candidates also showed that 13,826 (6,370 males and 7,456 females) final-year SHS students are taking the examination in the Upper East Region.
The Upper West Region also has 8,054 candidates (3,836 males and 4,218 females).
Ghanaian candidates are writing the Ghana-only WASSCE-SC for the second successive time because the other four-member countries of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) — Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone and The Gambia — have returned to the May/June calendar and have already administered the WASSCE for their school candidates for this year.
The four countries reviewed their academic calendars to enable them to write the examination in May/June, while Ghana stuck to the ‘new normal’ calendar occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.