Some 55 registered candidates for this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in the Sefwi-Wiawso Municipality of the Western North Region failed to report for the exams on the first day.
A total of 3,464 candidates were registered for the BECE in the municipality.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency, Mr Michael Kwarteng, Wiawso Examination Coordinator, said the 55 students comprised 23 males and 32 females.
According to him, 22 of the absentees had travelled, 12 of them stopped schooling, and 20 were believed to engage in illegal mining, with one of them gone into apprenticeship.
Mr Kwarteng also disclosed that one nursing mother was sitting for the examination at the Nkonya centre.
He expressed satisfaction with the smooth start of the exams, and commended stakeholders for the feat.
He indicated that some of the students in an interview expressed joy on the first day, and hoped for good grades.
