The West African Examination Council (WAEC) says it has received an amount of GH¢55 million meant for the organisation of this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

According to the Public Relations Officer, Winifred Ampiaw, the amount from government will enable the Council undertake the pre-exams activities for students participating in this year's examinations.

“I can say that we have received some amount of money that will enable us to conduct the exams, for both WASSCE and BECE. However, there’s a payment plan to pay the rest. So far, we have received GH¢10.5 million to be able to conduct BECE, and for WASSCE, we have received GH¢40 million,” she told Accra-based Citi FM on July 27.

She, however, said there remains a payment plan for government to settle the rest of the funds.

“The payment is for this year’s exams, we are supposed to spend a rough estimate of GH¢18 million for BECE. For WASSCE, the total cost for just the pre and the conduct of the main will take us to GH¢63.5 million. We are left with about GH¢7.5 million. However, I want to assure the public that yes, we are in the position to conduct both exams for this year,” Ampiaw is quoted by citinewsroom.com

The Minority in Parliament have in the last few days raised concerns over the inability of WAEC to organise the 2023 WASSCE and BECE examinations due to government’s failure settle its financial obligations.

Minority Spokesperson on Education, Peter Nortsu-Kotoe earlier told journalists that government had also failed to settle individuals who provided services to WAEC in 2022.

MA/OGB