The West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) says they have received GH¢55 million as part of arrears owed them by government.

The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of WAEC, Winifred Ampiaw confirmed this in an interview with Citi FM on Thursday, July 27, 2023.

She said that the money will see the facilitation of the organisation of this year's Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). 

According to Ms Ampiaw, the funds received thus far amount to GH¢10.5 million for BECE and GH¢40 million for WASSCE. 

The budget allocated for this year's examination is estimated at around GH¢18 million for BECE and GH¢63.5 million for WASSCE, leaving approximately GH¢7.5 million in remaining funds.

This financial allocation covers pre-exam activities and the execution of the examinations itself.

In regard to this, the PRO of WAEC assured the public that the amount received from the government is ample to carry out both exams successfully.

Ms Ampiaw reiterated that the necessary resources have been put in place to conduct both exams as planned.

“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.

"This amount will enable us to take care of the pre-exams activities and the conduct of the exams itself. We’ve received GH¢55 million in total, I know for a fact that we have received the money”.

“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,” she stressed.

Meanwhile, the Minority in Parliament has warned that the 2023 WASSCE and the BECE will suffer setbacks if arrears owed to the exam council by the government are not paid.

Speaking to the media in Parliament, the Minority Spokesperson on Education, Peter Nortsu-Kotoe stated that WAEC needs about GH₵‎50 million to clear its debts.

• Minority warns WASSCE, BECE could be in limbo over government indebtedness

Mr Nortsu-Kotoe noted that in 2022 the government was only able to pay GH₵‎50 million out of the GH₵‎83 million arrears owed WAEC to cater for the 2020/2021 arrears.

“Now the examinations are about to start again or they have even started with the orals and practicals and the WAEC is not having money to pay for last year’s services. If care is not taken, the persons or the teachers who gave us the service may not be ready to provide services again as supervisors and invigilators.”

But responding to the Minority's claims, Deputy Education Minister, Reverend John Ntim Fordjour, affirmed that the government is actively working to fulfill the outstanding financial requirements to support WAEC in conducting the exams without any disruptions.