The Institute for Education Studies (IFEST-Ghana) has called on the Ministry of Education to urgently provide a clear pathway for about 55,000 BECE candidates who were not placed in Senior High School (SHS) or Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions.
The education policy think tank said the affected students must not be left behind because they missed out on the latest school placement exercise.
IFEST-Ghana has proposed three possible options for the affected candidates.
The first option is to place them in SHS or TVET institutions under targeted academic support programmes.
Under this arrangement, the students would receive extra support in literacy and numeracy. This would help address their learning gaps while they continue their education.
The second option is to return the students to the basic-school level under a structured remedial programme.
IFEST-Ghana said the programme should prepare the students to resit the BECE. They could do so as private candidates or during the next main examination.
However, the Institute strongly rejected any option that would leave the students without a clear pathway to continue their education.
“For IFEST Ghana, this should not be considered an acceptable option in any education system, particularly one committed to expanding access to secondary education and ensuring that no learner is left behind.”
The Institute said the lack of a clear intervention for the 55,000 BECE candidates was worrying.
It has therefore urged the Ministry of Education to explain how it plans to support the affected students.
“Silence cannot be the policy.”
IFEST-Ghana warned that thousands of young people could be left without an opportunity to continue their education if no action is taken.
“If these students are neither absorbed into SHS/TVET, placed on a structured remedial programme, nor prepared for another opportunity to progress, then the education system risks leaving thousands of young people behind.”
The Institute is calling for a clear, coordinated and time-bound plan from the Ministry of Education and other relevant agencies.
“Every learner deserves a pathway forward,” IFEST-Ghana stressed.
The think tank said providing a clear pathway would help ensure that the affected BECE candidates remain within the education system and have another opportunity to progress.
