Wa, April 26, GNA - Forty-nine out of a total of 6,219 students, who registered for this year's Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE) in the Upper West Region failed to turn up for the on-going examinations. The absentees were made up of 26 boys and 23 girls dotted throughout the entire region.

Mr Cletus Paaga, Upper West Regional Director of Education, who revealed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Wa on Wednesday said, a total of 6,170 students were currently writing the examinations.

He said four of the absentees, who were girls were said to be pregnant and were therefore feeling shy to go in for the examinations, two were sick, two gained late admission into SSS, while no reasons were assigned for the rest of the absentees.

Mr Paaga said out of the 6,170, who were writing the examinations, 3,595 were boys, while 2,575 of them were girls. The Regional Director said no incident of examinations malpractices were reported in any of the 34 centres of the region, as at the time he was briefing the GNA in Wa.

"There is no overcrowding of candidates, no poor lightening system and no absence of invigilators and supervisors," he added. He appealed to all candidates not to indulge in any kind of malpractices during the examinations as that could jeopardise their future.