2024 January BECE Home Mock Social Studies Examiner’s Report: All is not well for the 2024 BECE
Based on the January 2024 BECE mock, the Education-News Consult has released its detailed examiner’s report. The 2024 January BECE Home Mock Social Studies Examiner’s Report shows that all is not well for the 2024 BECE; however, there is hope that students, teachers, and schools, with the support of parents, can take proactive steps now.
Teachers should guide learners to master the spelling of keywords in each topic as well as how to use them in sentences. This is a good way to empower your students to be able to give good answers to questions.
We hope this BECE Home Mock Social Studies Examiner’s Report will be an eye-opener for all stakeholders.
2024 January BECE Home Mock Social Studies Examiner’s Report: All is not well for the 2024 BECE
SOCIAL STUDIES REPORT
- Poor question choices by students as a result of not brainstorming carefully if they have the points needed to answer such questions. A typical example was candidates who chose the question of the Social Studies paper. Most candidates who chose the question could not answer the “A” section properly.
- Poor presentation of answers. As students failed to number the answer appropriately, Such poor presentations mean either the student does not know how to organise answers or is lazy doing the right things to score good marks. Such answers are always marked with low scores by examiners.
- Students, instead of explaining answers, were listing points. We award near-zero for such answers. Parents should help their students read the instructions on the exam question papers. Our instructions are unique, and when followed and mastered, they will go a long way towards boosting students’ scores in any examination. Failure to follow them will lead to weak performance.
- In the next mock, we will award zero for one- to three-worded answers, which are supposed to be self-explanatory sentences. This, we believe, will be a wake-up call for students in all subjects.
- Most students who answered Q4 deviated from question 4C; apparently, they read the question wrongly or did not understand it.
- Most of the candidates exhibited poor answer-numbering skills. If a question number is Q1 (a), the best way to number the answers is to use Roman numerals. If it is numbered, say Q1 (i), the answers should be numbers a, b, c, etc.
- Students are advised to provide clear answers. For example, if you say air pollution leads to sickness, You are not likely to get a point from the three points allocated. Ensure you know what sickness or illness is caused by air pollution and provide specific names as part of your explanations. Sentences of less than 10 words will earn nothing more than 1 point.
- Q1 (a) was problematic for students who attempted Q1. Answers provided showed many of our candidates do not know what a pollutant is, hence their inability to give the expected answers.
Social Studies Recommendations for Candidates
Kindly take note of the recommendations below as part of the BECE Home Mock Social Studies Examiner’s Report.
- Choose questions you can answer comprehensively based on your knowledge.
- Present answers clearly and logically, following instructions (number points, answers, and explanations).
- Avoid one-word answers; provide detailed explanations with specific examples.
- Revise your notes well.
- Always add value to your points by explaining them and adding examples.
- Do not just write an answer that is merely a sentence. You will not score any marks.
We hope that students, schools, and social studies teachers will take these seriously. Teach your candidates how to answer questions and also teach them how to number answers. Teach them how to choose questions and how to write answers. Note that, apart from questions that demand one-world answers, such as naming three countries in Africa. List and state questions in social studies must be self-explanatory sentences.
Make good use of the BECE Home Mock Social Studies Examiner’s Report.