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Ghana will revert to writing WASSCE in May/June – GES Director-General
Professor Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, The Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), has announced that Ghana will revert to writing the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in May/June of 2024.
He said Ghana is considering scheduling the timetable for the examination of 2024 based on contact hours in the classroom adding that this year’s WASSCE will be written by Ghana alone.
Four-member countries of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) — Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia — have returned to the May/June calendar and administered the WASSCE for their school candidates from May 9 to June 24, 2022.
He said “We are hoping that by 2024, we would have come up to the same level with the other member countries.
“That is why we said this year the calendar that we put out was a transitional calendar. We are transiting to go back to our old calendar when we start school from September/October and end in June/July the following year.”
According to Prof. Opoku-Amankwa, the 2022 WASSCE candidates would write the examination from August 1 to September 27, 2022, while “for 2023, we hope to write the examination a bit earlier than this year, most likely July/August.” Prof Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa
Amankwah explained that Ghana made a case that returning to the May/June calendar immediately would amount to disadvantaging the candidates “because they would not have met the 1,134 contact hours.”
“So we made a case to WAEC, the issue was considered at the international level and they agreed that we write our examination outside of the others,” he stated.
“But just as the May/June and the Nov/Dec examinations are both standardised and the award systems and the processes that they go through are the same, so is our August/September WASSCE an international WASSCE examination, the only difference being that the period when it is written is different from that of the other countries.
“We believe that our insistence on contact hours is a major contributor to the performance of our students in the WASSCE so far because we make sure that they get the fullest. In the past, they were doing about 1,080 contact hours in a year, but now they do 1,134 in a year and that, we believe, has contributed to their performance,” Prof. Amankwa noted.
“What we realised in the past with those rogue websites was that even though we tried as much as possible to start the papers at the same time, because of time differences, some countries might start slightly earlier than others and so some of those rogue website operators took advantage of that,” he explained.
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Health Minister leads delegation Mimi Darko’s appointment as AMA Director General
Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, Minister for Health and Member of Parliament has led a delegation to secure the appointment of Dr Delese Mimi Darko, Chief Executive Officer of the Food and Drugs Authority, as the Director General of the African Medicines Agency (AMA) during the ongoing 2nd Ordinary Session of the Conference of State Parties in Kigali, Rwanda.
This prestigious appointment, achieved through a competitive process, marks a proud and historic moment for Ghana and the entire continent.
It highlights Dr. Darko’s exceptional leadership, professionalism, and unwavering commitment to enhancing public health and regulatory systems across Africa.
The Minister expressed his deep appreciation to President John Dramani Mahama for his strong support and leadership throughout this process.
Mr.Akandoh congratulated Dr. Mimi Darko and Team Ghana for their incredibly successful campaign.
The AMA was established by the African Union on November 5, 2021, with the primary objective of improving access to quality, safe, and effective medical products throughout the continent. Its creation aims to facilitate the regulation and oversight of essential medicines at a continental level while promoting collaboration among African countries and regions.
The Agency’s mission is to provide leadership in creating an enabling regulatory environment for the pharmaceutical sector in Africa, ensuring that the African population has access to essential medical products and technologies.
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Police arrest five suspects involved in robbery cases in Ashanti Region
The Police Intelligence Directorate (PID) in the Ashanti Region has informed the public about a recent breakthrough in the fight against armed robbery in the Denchemuoso District.
Following a series of robbery incidents in the area, on April 22, 2025, PID/Ashanti operatives, acting on credible intelligence, apprehended one Michael Owusu Ansah, alias Baby Last, aged 32.
The suspect had been on the police wanted list since 2016 in connection with a robbery and the murder of Police Officer G/Cpl Frank Essel of SWAT/Ashanti, which occurred at the Open Space Hotel in Denchemuoso on May 19, 2016.
During interrogation, the suspect confessed to engaging in multiple street and residential robberies in Denchemuoso, Atwima-Techiman, Asuoyeboah, and surrounding areas.
He also disclosed that his gang operated with knives, pistols, and pump-action guns.
Further investigations led to the identification and arrest of his accomplices, namely:Emmanuel Owusu, alias Cassidy, Maxwell Gyimah, alias Nana Kwame, Sudais Oxford Ntiamoah, alias The Man Sudais and Rhano Okyere, alias Demon
These individuals were arrested from their hideouts within Atwima-Techiman and Denchemuoso.
However, one suspect, remains at large and efforts are underway to apprehend him and recover the weapons used in the robberies.
All five arrested suspects were arraigned before the Atasomanso Circuit Court on May 13, 2025.
They were remanded into police custody and are scheduled to reappear on June 4, 2025.
