The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) says it is expecting the Government to release some funds for the marking and release of results for this year’s West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and the Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE).

Mr John K. Kapi, Head of Public Affairs, WAEC, told the GNA that the early release of the money would facilitate the processes.

He said the Government had given WAEC GHC10.5 million to start with the BECE adding, “That is what we have used for the examination. Now that the examination is over, we expect the release of some monies to be able to go through the marking process and the release of the results.”

Mr Kabi said the Council had met with the Minister of Education on September 25, 2023, and he (the Minister) indicated that the Ministry was aware that the money released to the Council was going to be inadequate for the entire process, so he had instructed the Chief Director to work towards the release of more funds.

“As we speak now, no money has hit our accounts yet,” he added.

He said WAEC had carried out its preparatory activities for the marking and that the Council would start with the coordination of its examiners on Wednesday, October 4, 2023.

Mr Kapi said between Wednesday, October 4 -7, 2023, the coordination with examiners would be over and marking would begin on Monday, October 9, 2023.

The head of Public Affairs said the Council had over 22,000 examiners to pay.

“The fear we have now is that if the government does not release funds, we may not be able to complete the process and what it means is that we may not be able to pay the examiners.

“We have made this clear to the government and we hope that the government keep the promise to release funds to enable us to complete the process.”

Mr Kapi said the release of the results depended on the government's release of funds.

He said the Council was considering releasing the results of BECE in the last week of October 2023, adding that “as soon as we are done with the swapping of the regions in respect of WASSCE, then marking will start”.