Education Minister Says BECE Will Be Canceled When Free SHS Bill Is Passed
- The Minister of Education says JHS students will soon not need to write BECE to enter SHS
- According to him, the change is largely due to the Free Senior High School Bill that is currently before Parliament
- He said the lower secondary schools, while operating separately, would offer the same learning opportunities as the senior high schools
Ghana’s Minister for Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, says basic-level students will soon no longer have to write the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) to enter Senior High Schools.
According to him, the change is largely due to the Free Senior High School Bill that is currently before Parliament.
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In an interview on GTV on Thursday, August 8, 2024, he explained that the Free SHS bill would classify junior high schools as lower secondary schools and would no longer be classified as part of the basic school system.
This, he said, would effectively give Ghana a six-year secondary school education system.
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He said the lower secondary schools, while operating separately, would offer the same learning opportunities as the senior high schools.
Dr Adutwum explained that the passage of the Free SHS bill would make secondary education compulsory and inadvertently eliminate the need for the BECE as a certificate examination.
He said future students would instead write an entrance exam to pass into the various senior secondary schools.
However, the West African Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) would be maintained.
Free SHS bill to be presented before parliament
The government plans to present the Free Senior High School (SHS) Bill to Parliament, which would bind future governments to the policy.
At a briefing on Tuesday, June 11, Majority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin said the goal was to make the policy more effective and sustainable.
The passed bill would also make it mandatory for successive governments to implement the policy, Afenyo-Markin added.
"Unless it is repealed, no government would have the right to say, I am not going to enforce Free SHS because now it is law, so if you fail, a citizen can apply to the court as his bona fide, and the court can exact justice in that citizen's favour."
Mahama affirms commitment to Free SHS
YEN.com.gh reported that the National Democratic Congress flagbearer, John Mahama, has affirmed his commitment to the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy.
In an engagement with journalists, Mahama promised to improve it if he is re-elected as president.
“The Free SHS policy has come to stay, and I am committed to improving it,” the former President said.
He once again debunked claims that he was against the policy and insisted that he supports it and only wants to improve it to deal with present challenges.
Proofread by Berlinda Entsie, journalist and copy editor at YEN.com.gh
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Source: YEN.com.gh
