The Executive Director of Africa Education Watch (Eduwatch), Kofi Asare, has called for a reduction in the number of subject papers written during the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) from the current 10 or 11 to four. He explained that the proposal aims to cut down the five to six days currently used for the examination—now primarily a school placement tool—and to ease the associated costs. Mr. Asare suggested that the BECE be completed within two days, with candidates assessed in Mathematics, English, General Science, and a General Paper.
At present, candidates sit papers in English Language, Religious and Moral Education, Social Studies, Creative Arts and Design, Science and Career Technology, Mathematics, Ghanaian Language, French, Computing, and Arabic (for Islamic schools).
“We can decide to do only the three core subjects—English, Mathematics, Science—and then merge the rest into a General Paper,” he told the Daily Graphic. He explained that this approach would prevent students from neglecting other subjects, since the General Paper would encompass Computing, Ghanaian Language, Social Studies, and others, all compulsory except for the optional language section. “That way, students will be compelled to learn across the curriculum,” he added.
Certification
Mr Asare said prior to the introduction of the Free SHS in 2017, BECE largely determined whether a candidate qualified to enter secondary education. At the time, he said candidates typically needed at least Aggregate 35 to gain admission, and less than 65 per cent were meeting this threshold. In effect, he said BECE functioned as a screening examination that separated those who passed to progress to secondary school from those who did not.
“With the introduction of Free SHS, however, access to secondary education became near universal for BECE candidates. “Today, about 98 per cent of candidates qualify annually for secondary education. In fact, candidates with Aggregate 54 are all in school,” he said. That, Mr Asare said, meant that BECE results no longer primarily determined whether a student proceeds to secondary, but rather which school they were placed in.
Relevance
He said given the shift in relevance, the “question arises: why do candidates still sit 10 subjects over five days for what is essentially a placement exercise?” He said in many systems, school placement was guided by aptitude tests and continuous assessment rather than a broad high-stakes examination.
“If BECE is to remain relevant in its current school placement context, its structure should reflect its purpose. It is no longer a proficiency examination. A more focused model could retain Mathematics, English and Science, while merging the remaining subjects into a General Paper. “This would reduce assessment overload while ensuring students do not neglect any learning area.
Additionally, a reduced subject load could significantly cut examination costs, potentially by up to 40 per cent, while reducing stress on students and improving efficiency in the system. Ghana spends over GH¢200 million annually on BECE,” he said. Mr Asare said concerns that reducing the subject load would reduce the quality of learning, “though much appreciated, do not appear to be supported by evidence.”
He said they were not too different from the emotive concerns that “if you admit more into law and medical school, you dilute quality.” “I welcome more evidence-based justifications for any concern that seeks to suggest maintaining 10 stand-alone subjects in BECE has a positive correlation to the quality of learning, while reducing to four, yet maintaining all subjects, dilutes quality,” he added.
Source: Emmanuel Bonney