WAEC begs govt to release funds to facilitate 2024 WASSCE results

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has appealed to the central government to release GH¢110.46 million to facilitate the smooth completion of post-examination processes towards the release of the 2024 WASSCE results.

John Kapi, the Head of Public Relations at WAEC speaking to the Daily Graphic said the amount represents the balance of the GH¢186.44 million that was required to conduct the WASSCE, including marking and release of the results.

Asked how much the government has paid for the debt owed for the 2024 WASSCE, the not-for-profit-making organization official said “So far, the government has paid GH¢75,976,815.50 out of the total GH¢186,437,617.50.”

“We want to avoid the situation where examiners would keep our scripts because they’re not sure when they will be paid for their services. We also want to ensure that we do not truncate the academic calendar of the universities,” he told Graphic.

Explaining the implications of the delay in the release of funds, he said: “This situation has resulted in a plethora of challenges such as the high cost of conducting examinations due to our inability to procure materials in bulk in advance.

Additionally, it has exposed us to exchange rate volatilities, our inability to pay examiners on time, delay in payment of refreshment allowances to invigilators and supervisors, inability to pay suppliers promptly and replace obsolete machinery,” Mr Kapi outlined.

The WAEC official said the situation had also affected WAEC’s ability to secure the needed resources to curb the increasing examination malpractice across the country and also introduce innovations to curb new trends in examination malpractice.

He said as a non-profit institution, the West African Examinations Council’s (WAEC) main source of funding for the conduct of its examinations had been through examination fees paid by examinees.

Mr Kapi explained that the fees paid by candidates were used for the printing of examination questions, payment for the marking of examination scripts, payment for invigilation and supervision during examinations, procuring and maintaining machinery, as well as the purchase of examination stationery.

The 2024 edition of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for School which started on Monday, August 5, 2024, with the administration of Visual Art Project work ended on Friday, September 20, 2024.

A total of 460,611 candidates made up of 212,954 males and 247,657 females, presented by 1,003 participating Senior High Schools registered for the examination. The examination was administrated at 1,000 centres across the country.

The provisional results of the 2024 edition of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for School Candidates have been scheduled to be released in the second week of December this year.

Marking of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination for School scripts which is currently ongoing, the West African Examinations Council has said is expected to be completed by Friday, November 29, 2024.