On visit to writing centres: Minister Nalova Lyonga hails successful start of GCE.

Accompanied by her close collaborators including the Secretary of State in Charge of Teacher Training, Bayaola Boniface, the minister went visiting the writing centres for an on-the-spot assessment of the start of the exercise.

In all, four accommodation centres were visited by the minister and her delegation. The centres included those lodged on the campuses of the Government Bilingual High School, GBHS Etoug Ebe, Government Bilingual Technical High School, GBTHS Nkolbisson, Government Technical Secondary School, GTSS Ngoa Ekelle and College Victor Hugo. 

At each of the writing centres visited, the minister engaged in frank discussions with the chief of centres, before handing down instructions. 

She particularly urged authorities of the centre to ensure proper sitting conditions for the candidates as well as improve on hygiene on the campuses.

Speaking to reporters at the close of her visits, the minister said she was generally satisfied with the conduct of the exercise on day one.

Prof Nalova said she was pleased to have observed that the candidates were punctual on the first day of the exercise.

“The general appraisal is good in the sense that first of all, the exams started on time. I have observed that both the French and English sub systems have adopted the system of getting the children into the classrooms by a quarter to the hour,” she said.

Minister Nalova Lyonga said there was “great improvement” in that all the visited centres no case of late coming was recorded. 

“From that perspective, it is quite good but I think there is something that has to be done with the sitting spaces in some of the centres because if they say you have a bench that takes three students, then you should have two students who are writing on that table. If you have a small one and you want to put two students, there should be two students from two different subjects. The subjects shouldn’t be the same on a small bench which takes two people, I don’t accept that. So, there is a problem with that,” she said. 

Minister Nalova Lyonga then warned that: “Any centre that wouldn’t have adequate sitting spaces will not be a centre next year”.

She said much has to be done to step up the level of hygiene in in the writing centres to meet standard.

“There have to improve upon their hygiene before there are even taken as a centre,” she stated. 

It should be noted that some 213,378 candidates are currently sitting the various examinations organised by the GCE Board.

The candidates including those of the GCE Ordinary, Intermediate and Advanced Levels, are writing the exams in nearly 500 accommodation centres spread across the national territory.

According to official figures obtained from the GCE Board, this year’s session has witnessed a significant increase of 8.6% of the number of registered candidates countrywide. 

In concrete terms, some 17,000 additional candidates registered for the exams compared to that of 2024. 

As per regional statistics, Littoral Region sits on top of the table with 49,829 candidates, followed closely by the Centre Region with 49,646 and the South West Region with 48, 662 candidates.

The North West Region, for its part, has registered 33,742 candidates this year, making a 10.58% increase from 2024.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3464 of Wednesday June 04, 2025