The West African Examination Council (WAEC) has threatened to delay the marking of the 2023 BECE and WASSCE scripts of candidates.
According to the council, its decision is a result of the government’s failure to pay funds owed to the council, which amounts to GHC33 million.
WAEC has indicated the failure of the government to pay what is owed to the institution, which potentially jeopardizes the marking of the recently concluded Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
Hon. Peter Nutsu Kortoe who is a Ranking Member of the Education Committee in Parliament, revealed that the failure of the government to pay WAEC has led to the current WAEC financial crisis which has the potential to disrupt the release of exam results of students.
The government of Ghana decided a few years ago that apart from paying for the education of JHS and SHS students, it will also pay the full examination fees for all students in JHS3 and SHS3 to WAEC. This decision can be blamed for contributing to the current woes of the council.
Reacting to the issue, Hon Kortoe did indicate during a media encounter that the failure of the government to allocate timely funds to WAEC over the past three years has reached a critical juncture.
He did not mince words when he revealed that the current challenge can easily hinder the vital process of marking the 2023 WASSCE and BECE scripts.
“For almost two to three years, the situation is becoming very bad. The government is not releasing money to WAEC regularly, and it’s affecting the conduct of the examinations,” Kortoe lamented.
“The 2023 WASSCE is over but my information is that there’s no money for them to go ahead to the next phase of the process which is marking the Scripts and BECE was conducted in August and there’s no money for WAEC to conduct the marking of the BECE either.
“The situation is such that we don’t even know when money will be made available to them tho enable them mark the 2023 BECE and how soon they will release the results.”
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Furthermore, Kortoe disclosed that even the 2022 WAEC examinations have unpaid arrears, painting a bleak financial picture for the institution.
“Even the 2022 WAEC examinations are still in arrears; much of the money is yet to be paid,” he revealed.
Per information made public by Hon Kortoe, the government paid on 15% of the total payment required for the 2023 BECE. He therefore called on the government to release the amount owed the council to avert any challenges
“For now, we’ve been able to print, and we are conducting, but for marking and processing, we may not be able to complete that because we need more funds.” He stated.