Comfort candidates over exams cancellation – Education Minister

daniel russell

June 18, 2015 5:28 PM

Speaking on Radio Gold, Prof Naana Opoku Agyemang said it was a painful decision to cancel the papers; however, it was the most appropriate thing to do.

Prof Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang

The Minister of Education, Prof Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang is calling on parents to comfort their children following the cancellation of five Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) papers.

The West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) on Wednesday announced the cancellation of five papers in the ongoing BECE on the basis that they have been compromised.They are Papers 2 of English Language, Religious and Moral Education, Integrated Science Mathematics and Social Studies.

Speaking on Radio Gold, Prof Naana Opoku Agyemang said it was a painful decision to cancel the papers; however, it was the most appropriate thing to do.

“At this time I’m sure they are unhappy, and they would be unhappy because they expected that by tomorrow it would be over and you know how they celebrate and all that so the sense of disappointment is there. We want the parents to talk to them, comfort them but let them also understand that it is better, what we are doing is painful, we know, but we think it’s better to administer this for better results than just to condone what is going on…” she said.

The minister indicated that she was unhappy about the news of the cancellation because she felt the candidates are too young to go through such an unfortunate incident.

“I wasn’t happy because it’s a recurring problem, I wasn’t happy, in fact the reason that made me most unhappy was that it’s about children… you see, it’s about our youngest candidates. And that made me very, very unhappy. That is the very first time for them; some may be afraid, some may be nervous. We do everything to calm them down and to ensure that they can focus on the exam, so this is not the sort of thing that you expect to happen. But once it has happened on this scale, you have to take the action regardless about how we are all feeling, it’s not about emotions,” she noted.

The Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) has been directed to investigate circumstances leading to the leakage and subsequent cancellation of papers.

The cancelled papers, according to WAEC, will be administered on 29 and 30 of June.

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daniel russell