Despair has hit parents and students in the Binduri District of the Upper East Region after the Mathematics objective scripts of 165 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) candidates from six schools reportedly went missing.
The schools are Benguri JHS, Christian academy, Yaligun JHS, Amazing grace JHS, Good friends international JHS and Gumyoko JHS.
The affected candidates, drawn from six out of 12 Junior High Schools in the district, now face an uncertain future as their placement into Senior High Schools hangs in the balance.
According to Ayamba Paul, a worried parent and headteacher, they contacted the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) office in Bolgatanga on Monday, only to be informed that their wards’ Mathematics objective answer sheets could not be traced.
The parents described the development as a nightmare for their children, who studied hard and sat for all papers with the hope of progressing to SHS.
“My child wrote all the papers. How can you tell us that only Maths is missing? We want our children to be placed in SHS. They should not suffer for this,” one distraught parent told journalists.
Yayra Aidam, another parent, said they have raised their wards and know their intelligence and will not allow someone’s negligence to spoil their wards’ future. She has given a two-week ultimatum to the Ghana Education Service and WAEC to place their wards, or else they will take a hard decision against them.
Another parent, Rev. Pastor Joshua Sofo, said the development has had an emotional and psychological effect on their wards and has appealed to the authorities to do the needful and place them in their first-choice schools.
Parents say the situation feels like punishment for no crime committed, as Mathematics is a core subject that determines placement.
They are therefore appealing to WAEC and the Ghana Education Service (GES) to urgently intervene to ensure that the 165 affected students are not left behind and are given placement to continue their education.
By Timothy Antwi-Otoo
