Gilbert Asagba, a student from the Chillinga M/A Junior High School, has topped the 2023 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in the Nkwanta South Municipality of the Oti Region. Asagba was one of two outstanding students in the municipality, who obtained high scores in the BECE; Aggregate 16. Francisca Ntsosu from the Kecheibi Junior High school obtained Aggregate 19 in the girl's category. Mr Prince Safori Amponsah, the Nkwanta South Municipal Exams Coordinator, addressing the media at a review of the 2023 BECE performance, said the performance in the Municipality had improved significantly when compared to the 2021 and 2022 results. In 2021 a total of 2,030 students were registered and obtained 44.4 per cent pass but the results dropped in 2022 after 1,956 candidates were registered with 42.4 per cent pass. Mr Amponsah said the Education Directorate came out with a strategic plan to improve the performance, which included vacation and extra classes for candidates, and provision of past quest ions through the support of Mrs Samira Bawumia, wife of the Vice President. He said through regular monitoring of the various interventions by the Education Directorate, a 61.3 per cent pass was recorded in 2023 with the total 1,981 candidates presented which he described as a significant improvement. Touching on challenges to education in the municipality, Mr Amponsah mentioned annual tribal conflicts that 'seriously' affected schools within the Nkwanta Township, which caused student performance to drop yearly. He spoke of the lack of logistics for regular monitoring and learning materials in some schools, which needed to be addressed. Mr Amponsah commended Mrs Bawumia and Mr Geoffrey Kini, Member of Parliament for Nkwanta South, for supporting the extra classes of the candidates, as well as the various NGOs their assistance to the Ghana Education Service in improving the academic performance of the students. He called on headteachers, teachers, parents and the students to get on board in making educat ion an utmost priority for a better future. He congratulated the best performing candidates for their achievement, especially as they hailed from communities considered among the deprived in the Municipality. Source: Ghana News Agency