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The Conference of Regional Directors of Education (CONRED) has hinted final year candidates registered for the West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) who skip classes ahead of their final examination, will not be allowed to sit for the papers.

The National President of CONRED, Alhaji Haroon, bemoaned candidates absenteeism after being registered until few weeks or a day to the commencement of their final exams, as one of the factors accounting for the poor examination performance in recent times, hence the need for urgent steps to curb the situation. 

“It’s  true and this has become widespread in Ghana that immediately after registration for exams, both in WASSCE and the BECE, candidates tend to leave the school, they disappear and come back  only during the exams week. This we have found aberrant  to educational  development in the country.”

Mr. Haroon, who doubles as the Northern Regional Director of Education, said a unanimous decision taken by all regional directors of education will ensure registered candidates and their parents sign a bond stating their wards will not refuse to attend classes until the final exams and in the event that they go contrary to the bond, their wards shall not be allowed to write the exams.

“Usually, when candidates after registration stay back on the premises, they are guided and giving tips on how to answer questions and the period also allows teachers time to finish their syllabus with candidates before their final exams but some candidates think they are content with what has been taught in form one and two syllabus” he lamented.

Mr. Haroon noted that it is disrespectful for candidates to leave school after registration, adding this truancy is a reason for the failure of some students.

“It is disrespectful for candidates to leave school after registration and that is why candidates are failing from time to time.  If you look at the performance, candidates who use to register and stay back till they wrote their exams performed better than these days where students register and run away until exams day and we must put a stop to it.”

Mr. Haroon emphasized that the initiative though not a policy by the Ministry of Education, is an intervention by CONRED to correct an anomaly.