The marking of the recently completed Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) may be in jeopardy due to unpaid dues totaling GHC33 million, according to the West African Examination Council (WAEC).
Peter Nutsu Kortoe, the ranking member of Parliament’s Education Committee, warned that the financial crisis could seriously affect WAEC’s operations and delay the release of exam results.
Speaking to the media yesterday, Kortoe emphasized that the Ghanaian government’s failure to timely fund WAEC over the previous three years has reached a crucial turning point.
He forewarned that the circumstance might seriously impede the crucial process of marking the WASSCE and BECE scripts in 2023.
“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.”
Even the 2022 WAEC exams have unpaid arrears, according to Kortoe, painting a dire 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.
Head of Public Affairs at WAEC John Kapi had previously issued a warning in August, cautioning that any delay in the government’s release of funds designated for BECE could negatively impact the marking procedure.
Kapi clarified that only 15% of the total payment necessary for the 2023 BECE had been made available by the government.
In order to ensure that the processing and marking of scripts proceed without a hitch, he demanded the immediate release of the remaining 75%.
With regard to printing and conducting, Kapi expressed concern, saying: “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.”
