The West African Examination Council (WAEC) has called on the government to release, at least, fifty percent (50%) of the money needed to conduct the July 2024 Basic Education certificate Examination (BECE).
WAEC maintains that, the 2024 edition of BECE faces a possible postponement should the government fail to meet the examination half-way, as far as their financial demands is concerned.
The Head of Public Affairs of WAEC, Mr. John K. Kapi explained that, the BECE comprises of candidates from both the public and private schools.
Speaking in an exclusive interview on UTV’s 'Mpu Ne Mpu' on Friday, June 21, 2024, Mr. Kapi noted that, students from the private schools have all had their registration fees paid in full whiles students from the public schools are waiting on the government to have their fees sorted out.
According to the Examination Council, a total of four hundred and forty-seven thousand, eight hundred and seventeen (447,817) candidates from the public schools are supposed to pay two hundred and fourteen Ghana cedis each (GHS 214). The government is supposed to pay the fees for the public school candidates since the introduction of the free basic education which saw the government absorbing all fees for students in public schools.
The government is expected to pay a total of ninety-five million, eight hundred and thirty-two thousand, eight hundred and thirty-eight Ghana cedis (GHS 95,832,838), but WAEC urges the government to pay 50% of the total cost in order to conduct the examinations.
“If we receive the 50% part payment we can start the process. The 50% we are demanding will only sustain the process to the 15th of July because, the script markers ought to be paid for marking the exams script. We also need part of the money to run the examination process," he said.
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