The National Youth Authority (NYA) has admonished all West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) candidates across the country to show appreciation to the government for providing them free Senior High School education so as to accord them a brighter future, by eschewing all negative behaviour that do not inure to their benefit.

The NYA’s admonishing follows reports of incidents of violence from some WASSCE candidates in the country.

Officials of the West African Examination Council (WAEC) supervising the ongoing WASSCE examination were attacked by students of Bright Senior High School at Kukurantumi in the Eastern Region on Thursday over strict invigilation.

A journalist with the state-owned Daily Graphic was also beaten by the students during the melee.

His phone and bag were taken away by the students who chased him on a motorbike and pummeled him even as he jumped onto a moving commercial bus to save his life.

The marauding students trashed phones belonging to the invigilators. They were angry about strict supervision and social-distancing protocols in the exam hall.

The police had to intervene to calm nerves. The Kukurantumi incident is one of many such happenings. So far, students of Tweneboa Kodua Senior High School and Juaben Senior High School, both in the Ashanti Region; as well as their colleagues at Ndewura Jakpa Senior High Technical School in the Savanna Region, have rioted over strict invigilation and the difficulty of the exam questions.

Some of them said they were disappointed that none of the government-procured past questions they focused on, featured in the papers they have sat so far.

In a statement issued by the authority on Thursday, 6 August 2020 and signed by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sylvester Tetteh, the NYA condemned “unequivocally, the acts of indiscipline exhibited” by the candidates.

The Authority admonished “all candidates to be appreciative of the noble gestures of government to afford them a brighter future and remain focused on their studies, be committed to the values of humility, patience, discipline and soberness to eschew all manner of negative conduct that does not inure to their wellbeing and development.”

It also advised candidates not to “be intimidated but to be assured of the fact that, as they stay committed to their studies, they’ll surely come out with flying colours.”

The NYA further “urged all students, particularly perceived aggrieved ones, to continually use legitimate and appropriate means to seek redress and to desist from engaging in any form of destructive behaviour.”

It further entreated the youth of Ghana to “nurture and develop selfless and patriotic traits that will go a long way at advancing the progress of their communities whilst equipping them to assume the roles of productive citizenship and as custodians of our nation’s rich cultural heritage”.