Investigations undertaken by the Trunk News Agency have shown that the flagbearer of the Convention People's Party got it all wrong on the results of the 2008 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
Paa Kwesi Nduom, in his characteristic haste, organised a news conference Monday, quoting apparently from a West African Examinations Council (WAEC) report. Dr Nduom said out of the 320,000 students who sat for the examination held in April this year, 50 percent of them failed.
However, the TNA can report that the official results from WAEC rather show that this year's pass mark was the best in 10 years and *not* the worst in 10 years as widely reported in the media.
In fact 62.16% of students who sat for the exams in 2008 passed, obtaining aggregate grades of six to thirty. A total of 338,292 students sat for this year's BECE, with 210,282, the highest number on record, obtaining the requisite pass marks.
In 1998, 138,477, representing 60.36% of the 229,432 students who sat for the BECE passed.
In 1999, 60.21% (140,729) of the 233,740 students obtained pass marks.
In 2000, 60.54% (141,535) of 233,785 students passed the BECE.
In 2001, 247,663 students took the BECE. 149,600, representing 60.40% of them passed.
In 2002, the pass rate increased slightly, with 60.48% (160,262) of the 264,979 students who sat for the BECE passing.
By 2003, another slight improvement, with 60.99% (163,613) of the 268,284 students getting pass grades.
In 2004, this increased to a 61.18% (170,324) pass mark, out of 278,391 students.
2005 also saw better grades. 287,297 students took the BECE, 176,959 (61.59%) passed.
In 2006, 308,383 students sat for the BECE, 61.91% (190,924) of them passed.
Last year, there was a slight reduction in the pass rate to 61.28%, representing 196,240 of the 320,247 who sat for the BECE.
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