INFORMATION reaching DAILY GUIDE from examination centres in Sunyani, the Brong Ahafo Regional capital, indicates that more girls absented themselves from the ongoing Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) as compared to their male counterparts.

The reason for their absence was not immediately known, but some pupils DAILY GUIDE spoke to believed their mates were pregnant and, therefore, felt shy to sit for the exams.

In an interaction with the Brong Ahafo Regional Director of Education, Dr. Adjei Hinneh, he said he was still going round to visit the centres to ascertain the number of absentees and the reason for their absence.

He noted that the BECE was extended from April to June to allow the pupils some time to study more to be able to pass the exams convincingly.

“I know the teachers have done their best and the children will surely excel if they take to what their teachers thought them”, he mentioned.

Dr. Hinneh said all centres in the region were ready for the examination and believed everything would go on well as they had planned.

He advised the pupils to read through the questions before they attempted to answer and see the exams as the mock they wrote in school so they could overcome the fear. “Do an independent work and do not rush into answering questions, make sure you understand”, he told the pupils.

He said any centre that would be involved in examination malpractices would be sanctioned by the education service and banned from future examinations.

The Education Director said in all 35, 784 candidates were writing the exams in the region comprising 16,500 girls and 19,754 boys. He also said 1,330 schools were writing the exams including 328 private schools and 1,002 public schools.

Some of the students DAILY GUIDE spoke to, after the first paper, were optimisti of passing the exams with distinction.