WASSCE RESULTS AT CROSSROADS AS GOVERNMENT OWES WAEC
The West African Examination Council (WAEC) is concerned that the government’s GH₵166 million outstanding debt may cause a delay in the release of this year’s West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results.
John Kapi, WAEC’s Head of Public Affairs, claims that the council is in debt more than GH₵4 million to supervisors, script checkers, and invigilators.
According to Mr. Kapi, who spoke to JoyNews, the government has only covered GH₵186 million, or one-third, of WAEC’s 2024 budget, leaving GH₵40.4 million in unpaid arrears from prior years.
He voiced concern that the release of the WASSCE results might be delayed if these arrears are not paid on schedule.
“We still have a significant amount of money to collect regarding the WASSCE. In 2024, the fees totaled 186.437 million Ghanaian cedies. Now, we received 60.976 million from the government prior to the exam starting.
That’s all we have, then. And that was only roughly one-third of the total. Thus, the remaining two-thirds have yet to be paid. And some from 2023 are still pending.
When you combine these two, we are approaching the 165.9 million Ghana cedies that we anticipate receiving from the government in order to successfully wrap up our year’s activities.
He cautioned, “The results may be delayed if they decide to keep the scripts and are not guaranteed payment for any reason.”
The public has been reassured by the Education Ministry that it is collaborating with WAEC to avoid any delays.
According to Ministry spokesperson Kwasi Kwarteng, WAEC recently received GH₵15 million, and additional payments are being processed to guarantee the timely release of WASSCE results.
I would like to use this opportunity to reassure our parents, who are our candidates who took the test, that nothing will change. We don’t think it will get to the point where WAEC claims they are postponing the student results’ release.
“We are partners with WAEC. We have been working with WAEC at every stage.
The government will owe WAEC because it hasn’t paid them yet. WAEC must complete their work before the government makes the payment. Therefore, there will undoubtedly be unpaid debts,” he continued.