Ghana’s Minister of Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, has revealed that in the future, students at the basic level will no longer take the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) but will instead sit for entrance exams to progress to Senior High School (SHS).

In an exclusive interview on GTV’s Breakfast Show on Thursday, August 8, 2024, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum highlighted that, in the modern era, it is vital to complete senior high school, where certification exams will be held, rather than at the junior high level.

Dr. Adutwum clarified that the Free Secondary Education Bill allocates government-funded resources to guarantee free, high-quality secondary education for all children.

According to this bill, junior high school is designated as lower secondary and will no longer be considered part of basic education, effectively establishing a six-year secondary education system in Ghana.

He mentioned that lower secondary schools may function independently but will provide the same learning opportunities as senior high schools.

He explained that making secondary education mandatory removes the necessity for the BECE as a certification exam.

In response to suggestions from Africa Education Watch to include a required subject on basic practical agriculture in the SHS curriculum reform, Dr. Adutwum proposed that this could be incorporated into the lower secondary curriculum, introducing students to agriculture and helping them decide whether to pursue it further in upper secondary school.