Mr Samuel Okudjeto Ablakwa, Deputy Minister for Education, has cautioned heads of senior high schools in the country not to prevent students with bushy hair or funny haircuts from writing the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
It would be recalled that there had been instances where some heads of both the basic and senior high schools prevented students from writing their final examinations because they had bushy hair or weird haircuts.
However, the deputy minister of education in charge of tertiary education has called on heads of the various senior high schools to desist from that act.
“I am calling on school heads not to prevent students with funny or bushy haircuts, pregnant or whose school uniforms are too short from writing this year’s WASSCE,” he stressed.
The deputy minister, however, explained that his caution did not mean that the final year students should engage in acts of indiscipline because they were about to leave school.
He noted that every institution has its rules and stressed that the candidates were to abide by the rules of their respective schools, adding that the heads would not be lenient with students who violated the rules of their schools.
Okudjeto Ablakwa was speaking to journalists after he toured some WASSCE examination centres in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis to acquaint himself with the level of preparation by examination officials and candidates.
The deputy minister visited Takoradi Secondary School (TADISCO), Ghana Secondary Technical School (GSTS), Fijai Senior High School, Ahantaman Girls’ Senior High School and Archbishop Porter Senior High School, all in the metropolis.
The minister expressed satisfaction with the smooth conduct of the examination so far, adding, “I am impressed everything is going on well. I am impressed with the invigilation and students’ punctuality.”
He indicated that in all the schools he visited, he observed that the students were really prepared for the examination and that there was not much absenteeism.
Mr Ablakwa urged the candidates to approach the examination with “all seriousness,” reminding them that it was an opportunity for them to shape their future.
He indicated that even though some of the final year students owed school fees, the school authorities had been asked to allow such students to write the examination.
He, however, called on parents to pay the school fees of their wards during the period of the examination or immediately after it ended.
Mr Ocloo Nyamadi, Western Regional Chairman of the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS), indicated that students who did not pay their fees after the examination would have their results withheld.
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