Kumasi mayor Osei Assibey Antwi has advised final-syear Senior High School students sitting this year’s West Africa Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) to defer watching television and concentrate on their books instead during the exam period.

The mayor gave the advice when he toured some schools in the Kumasi metropolis to assess the ongoing WASSCE.

The written papers for the WASSCE began across the nation on Monday, 3 August 2020.

Speaking in an interview with Kumasi FM’s Elisha Adarkwah, Mr Assibey Antwi said: “We were looking out for the observation of the COVID-19 protocols by all the schools we have visited so far. Before you enter, the thermometre gun was available, the washing of hands was being adhered to, each student had a sanitiser and also they observed social distancing”.

“We also took into consideration the exams itself. The question papers also came on time, the usual issues that accompany the exams in the past were absent”, he said.

The mayor commended the Ministry of Education and the teachers for ensuring the students completed their syllabi.

He advised the students to postpone watching TV for now and do the final delivery, which is to write and pass well.

“Now the teachers are done teaching them, they have their destinies in their own hands, it’s time for them to deliver. This particular season, they must postpone watching TV and revise for the papers.”

A total of 87,295 candidates are sitting the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in the Ashanti region.

According to the Ghana Education Service (GES), they are made up of 44,063 males and 43,232 females.

The number of candidates for this year shows an increase of 4,894. About 82,401 candidates sat the exam in 2019.

This represents 23.2 per cent of the national figure of 375, 737 candidates.

Some of the schools visited include Serwah Nyarko Girls’ Senior High School, Kumasi Girls’ Senior High School and Kumasi Wesley Girls’ Senior High School.

At Serwah Nyarko Girls’ Senior High School, the headmistress, Mrs Easter Gyasi Sarpong, said a total of 506 candidates were supposed to sit the exam but one was absent.

The issue was not different at Kumasi Wesley Girls’ Senior High School where the headmistress, Rev Mrs Monica Afrifa Ntiamoah, said 935 candidates were sitting the paper but two were absent.