Dr. Clement Apaak, the Deputy Ranking Member on Parliament’s Education Committee, has revealed that the government is processing GH¢25 million for the West African Examinations Council (WAEC).
This follows the educational board’s stern warning that the government’s delay in settling GH¢118 million debt could significantly delay the release of the 2024 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results.
Dr. Apaak, in an interview, acknowledged the payment as a positive step but noted that it falls short of addressing WAEC’s pressing financial challenges.
“The information we are receiving is that the government has issued a cheque for GH¢25 million to WAEC, but we are talking about an amount of GH¢118 million, and so when you give only GH¢25 million, clearly this is not even half of the debt. It is a drop in the ocean,” he noted in an interview monitored by The Ghana Report.
Meanwhile, the Head of Public Affairs at WAEC, John Kapi, has disclosed that GH¢25 million is needed to pay technicians to repair faulty scanners, which are required to mark objective questions.
“WAEC is awaiting the release of additional funds out of an outstanding balance of GH¢118 million from the Ministry of Education for the repair of the scanners to carry out the scanning process of the objective cards for this year’s West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for School Candidates (SC),” the Head of Public Affairs of WAEC, John Kapi, said.
“Currently, we actually have a number of scanners, but due to lack of funds, we have not been able to service them as they break down. That’s what has led to the current situation,” he explained.
The fate of over 460,611 WASSCE School Candidates (SC) hangs in the balance as WAEC has not been able to release their results due to the pending debt.