WAEC won’t have a future in Ghana if funding challenges continue – Nortsu Kotoe
Ranking Member of Parliament’s Education Committee, Peter Nortsu-Kotoe, has expressed concern about the fact that the committee is forced to annually intervene before the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) receives funding from the government of Ghana for its operations.
This follows the West African Examinations Council’s (WAEC) statement that it might have to postpone the upcoming Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) due to financial constraints.
According to the Director of Public Affairs at WAEC, John Kapi, the council needs about GH₵90 million to conduct the exams.
Mr Kapi said although the exam papers had been printed, the council lacked no funds to distribute them and send WAEC officials to monitor the exams.
The Member of Parliament for the Akatsi North Constituency noted that the government had committed to covering all fees for BECE and WASSCE candidates, with allocations budgeted and approved accordingly.
However, he highlighted that the government is currently facing challenges in releasing the funds.
Mr Nortsu-Kotoe pointed out that without the fees paid by private BECE candidates, WAEC would have struggled to adequately prepare for the examinations.
“That is the challenge, and it is unfortunate that we are treating WAEC this way. In other countries like Nigeria, Sierra Leone, the Gambia and Liberia as soon as parliament approves the money and the year begins, WAEC is given every money it works with, but it is the reverse in Ghana,” he lamented.
Meanwhile, the government says it has released some 47 million cedis of the nearly 95 million owed WAEC.
The Council says it can conduct the exam with this amount but cannot pay its debt.
The examinations council says it is hoping to deploy its staff by July 4.
“We will deploy our staff by the 4th of July. Our vehicles are going to start moving, and staff will also start moving on the 4th of July. We believe that if they can process the money before the 4th of July, we would be in a position to conduct the examination as we have stated,” Spokesperson for WAEC, John Kapi explained.
The examination is scheduled to commence on Monday, July 8 and end on Monday, July 15, 2024, at all centres across the country.
