A total of 468,053 candidates are expected to sit this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination which begins today.

The students who will write about 10 papers including Mathematics, English and Science have been burning the midnight oil in preparation for the week-long exercise.

Meanwhile, education authorities in the troubled Denkyira Obuasi township of the Central region are still struggling to assemble final year students in the area to take part in the exams.

The students are said to have fled with their parents leaving little hope of their participation in the exams which will give them access to secondary schools in the country.

Both adults and children have fled the town following police investigations into the gruesome killing of military Captain Adam Mahama by some residents of the mining community.

Some students who have managed to come back to the town told Starr News’ Central regional correspondent Kwaku Baah-Acheamfour they are not in the right frame of mind to undertake the exams.

The students who have been staying in the bushes with their parents fear they will be brutalised by soldiers who are peeved about the death of their colleague.

According to the students, not only has their continuous stay in the bush made them weak and tired, but the recent happenings in the town have made it difficult to concentrate on their books.

They are therefore calling on government and the authorities in the area to do something drastic to save their education.