Prisons Service reveals the number of prisoners writing 2024 BECE

Thirty-four prisoners are participating in this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) which commenced on Monday, July 8, 2024, and is expected to end on Monday, July 15, 2024, the Ghana Prisons Service has disclosed.

The candidates, all males, include 27 juveniles from the Senior Correctional Centre (SCC), 5 from Nsawam Maximum Security Prison, and 2 from Sunyani Central Prison.

In an interview, the Greater Accra Regional Public Relations Officer for Ghana Prisons Service, DSP Loretta Valentina Amoah said the inmates have been thoroughly prepared by qualified, trained teachers from both the correctional service and the Ghana Education Service.

The Prisons Service spokeswoman expressed optimism about the inmates’ performance, confident they would excel in all subjects of the national examination administered by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC).

The first batch of inmates, comprising 21 juveniles and young offenders, sat for the BECE in 2009 and achieved a remarkable 100% pass rate. Since then, they have consistently maintained this record of excellence. 

Last year, 51 prisoners across the country took the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and also recorded a 100% pass rate, demonstrating the effectiveness of the educational programs within the correctional facilities.

The Daily Graphic its report sighted by Thisterm.com said the 2023 BECE graduates obtained between aggregates 16 and 31 in the national examination, thus qualifying them to benefit from the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) policy.

They comprise 26 juveniles from the Senior Correctional Centre in Accra, nine inmates from the Nsawam Medium Security Prisons, eight inmates from the Kumasi Central Prison, four from the Ankaful Maximum Security and four more from the Sunyani Central Prisons.

Graphic said Thirteen of them, all juveniles, have since been discharged upon completing their terms, leaving 38 of the inmate SHS freshers still serving their terms adding that “13 of the juveniles are still in prison custody.

The BECE inmates, Graphic said were placed at Mfantsipim Senior High School (SHS) in Cape Coast; Labone SHS, St Thomas Aquinas SHS, Accra Technical Training Centre, the Forces SHS, all in Accra; Tema Technical Institute, and the Agona Swedru Technical Institute, among other pre-tertiary institutions.

Adult inmates who wrote the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), the newspaper said are pursuing General Arts or Business at SHSs on the premises of the Prisons Service under the supervision of the Ghana Education Service.

The prospective students the newspaper said enjoy the full package of the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) initiative, receiving free tuition and feeding in addition to educational materials from the Ghana Education Service.