BECE: We’ve only received GH¢47m from govt not GH¢80m – WAEC

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has stated that it has only received GH¢47 million from the government for the conduct of the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).

Frank Annoh-Dompreh, the Majority Chief Whip, had previously informed Parliament that the Finance Ministry had released GH¢80 million to WAEC for the BECE.

This disclosure followed concerns raised by Yusif Sulemana, the Member of Parliament for Bole-Bamboi, regarding the government’s outstanding debt to WAEC.

Initially, WAEC had only received GH₵2.3 million of the GH₵95.83 million. This led the council to request at least 50% of the total amount to conduct the examination and additional funds to process and release the results.

The BECE is set to commence from July 8 to July 15, 2024, at all centres across the country.

In an Eyewitness News interview with Umaru Sanda Amadu on Citi FM on Friday, John Kapi, the Head of Public Relations at WAEC clarified that the council received a warrant for about half the total amount on Friday afternoon, not the GH¢80 million as indicated by the Majority Chief Whip.

“…They were supposed to have paid us GH¢95,837,306 million and out of this they have paid GH¢2,284,618. So we were expecting them to pay a balance of GH¢93,552,688 to us to enable us to conduct the examination.”

“In 2023 they paid and we still have some arrears of GH¢698,500 for them to settle…earlier on the 17th of May we received GH¢2.2m and then this afternoon we received a warrant for GH¢47,125,594. So that is about half of the total amount left to be paid to us,” he stated