Prison education: 51 inmates sit for BECE nationwide
CCFThe Officer-in-Charge of Senior Correctional Centre (SCC), Deputy Director of Prisons (DDP) Millicent Owusu has indicated that a total of fifty-one (51) prison inmates are taking part in this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
The inmates (candidates) who are all males include twenty-six (26) from the Correctional Centre in Accra; nine (9) from Nsawam Medium Security Prison in the Eastern Region; eight (8) from Kumasi Central Prison; and four (4) each from Sunyani Central Prison and Ankaful Maximum Prison respectively.
Each day Prison officers escort the candidates to their various centers and back to the prisons after writing the exams.
According to DDP Millicent Owusu, the inmates are between the ages of 13-18 years who are juvenile offenders and 18-21 years young offenders.
Preparing the inmates for the exams, she said professionally trained teachers from the Ghana Prison Service (GPS) and some from the Ghana Education Service (GES) took the inmates through intensive training.
“The officers are always with them, teach them, and meet them every morning to discuss past questions and other things so that they will be abreast with what is happening outside the world to enable them to write the exams just as the ordinary candidates,” she added.
However, DDP Owusu bemoaned inadequate teaching and learning materials for the inmates to upgrade themselves.
“We sometimes solicit for funds from benevolent individuals and organizations to assist in providing these modern equipment and materials like computers among others since the government could not do it alone.”
She said the government absorbed the registration fees of the inmates and after excelling in the BECE, they will be enrolled into Senior High School programme organized by the GPS.
Speaking to some of the inmates (candidates), they expressed satisfaction after their English exams, saying it was good and satisfactory.
