Bekwai Member of Parliament Ralph Poku‑Adusei reported that the constituency’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) performance improved markedly, with the overall best aggregate dropping from 18 in the 2024/2025 academic year to 6 in 2025/2026.
The improvement follows the rollout of the School Starter‑Pack Scholarship (SSPS) and the reintroduction of the School Performance Appraisal Meeting (SPAM), initiatives the MP says were designed to tackle long‑standing challenges in the municipality’s education sector.
For more than six years, Bekwai Municipality faced a decline in academic outcomes, highlighted by an aggregate of 18 recorded by a public school in the 2024/2025 BECE. In early 2025, Poku‑Adusei convened a stakeholders’ engagement that included the Municipal Education Directorate, parents, teachers, circuit supervisors, civil society groups and students. The meeting identified parental apathy, teacher motivation and supervision gaps, student indiscipline, low self‑esteem, inadequate teaching materials, limited healthy competition and weak links between the Education Directorate and schools as key impediments.
Following the appraisal, SPAM was reinstated across all ten educational circuits in the constituency. Concurrently, the MP launched the SSPS, a merit‑based programme that selects the top graduating candidate from every public and private school based on BECE aggregate, using raw scores as tie‑breakers where needed.
The standard SSPS package for 2026 comprises a Mackintosh mattress, pillow, plastic provibox and suitcase, all GES‑approved and certified against bedbugs. Additional recognition includes laptops for top performers and a GH¢2,000 per‑term scholarship for the best student with disabilities (PWD).
Five students were honoured as overall best candidates in the 2026 edition: Miss Owusu Adwoa Serwaa (Dominase M/A JHS, aggregate 7), Master Yamoah Bordom Benjamin (Bekwai APS JHS, aggregate 8), Miss Appiah Kubi Annabella and Master Frimpong Owusu Emmanuel (Amazing Grace JHS, both aggregate 6). Master Kingsley Owusu (Dominase M/A JHS) was recognised as the Best PWD Student.
Other schools that recorded single‑digit aggregates included Senfi Methodist JHS (8), Ofoase‑Kokobin M/A (10), Poano (9) and Abodom Methodist (8), with Perfect and Amazing Grace JHS posting aggregates of 7 and 6 respectively.
MP attributes gains to combined incentives and accountability
The MP said the dual approach of SSPS incentives and SPAM accountability drove the improvement, noting that SPAM assesses student and teacher performance while also examining parental and directorate involvement.
“We envisage a future where each student from Bekwai transitions not just into SHS, but into tertiary,” the MP said.
“We will continue to monitor the performance of these SSPS beneficiaries at the SHS level and ensure that in the next 5‑10 years, Bekwai will have an increase in the number of doctors, engineers, teachers, security officers, nurses, businessmen and women, bankers, lawyers, pastors and other skilled professionals who are all indigenes of Bekwai, towards achieving the Self‑Sufficient Constituency we have set as our mantra.”
Poku‑Adusei also announced plans for a Best Teacher Awards Scheme, the establishment of a dedicated SSPS Board to oversee selection criteria and implementation, and an expansion of the programme through partnerships with individuals and corporate organisations. He affirmed that the initiative will be sustained beyond his tenure.
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