Stakeholders in education in the Ho Municipality are betting on preparations before the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) to address the performance outcomes. The Volta Regional Capital is suffering low BECE results presently and Dr Esther Adzimah-Yeboah, the Ho Municipal Education Director is confident the new Standard-Based curriculum provided the means to transformation. Speaking with the Ghana News Agency, she mentioned the special pre-examination preparation the Directorate had committed to and said students and teachers had been brought up to par with the new curriculum. 'We had a pre-preparation for the candidates, which we code named 'grooming' where teachers were trained on the common core program especially the trend of the question because sample questions were sent to us from the Ministry, so we trained the teachers, and they tuned their teaching towards the trend of the question. 'We wrote a mock too in the same dimension and we pray that with that we have enough preparation and there would be a change. She spoke of a reduction in BECE candidature in recent times and said a growing trend of sitting for the examinations before the final year accounted for the situation. 'Most parents allow their wards to write in form two which has led to a drop in the candidature and that is also spoiling the results for us. They go to the private schools to have their wards registered and some even travel outside the Municipality to others and it is affecting us.' She said measures were being implemented to control the trend and hoped that this year's results would reflect change. The Education Director said parental, social and school factors would be addressed through broadened collaboration, and that teachers would receive capacity enhancement. A total of 2,943 candidates from 101 schools in the Municipality wrote the BECE at ten centres. Dr Adzimah-Yeboah encouraged candidates to be studious and refrain from examination malpractices, saying they would not be spared when caught. Mr Francis Yaw Agbemadi, the Volta Regional Director of Education was assured the Region would record the 'highest possible' grade this year to mark the beginning of a transformation in the Region's education outcomes. He also affirmed that, despite the absence of past questions under the new curriculum, students had been aptly prepared through mock examinations. Mr Divine Bosson, the Municipal Chief Executive for Ho also urged students to give their best in the examination to facilitate access to higher education through the government's Free SHS program. He said infrastructure challenges among others were being addressed and included the provision of furniture for schools to improve the study environment. The MCE is supporting the various examination centres in the Municipality with water refreshments throughout the period. Source: Ghana News Agency