A video of a head teacher forcing graduates of the school to pay for their WAEC-administered certificate has hit the internet.
Reacting to this unfortunate illegal extortion, the Ghana Education Service (GES) has sent a strong warning to head teachers against charging illegal fees for WAEC certificate collection.
In the video, the unnamed head teacher is heard insisting that students must pay the amount of GHS200.00 or forfeit their certificates, even going as far as daring them to report him to the court. However, while at it, one of the students took a video of the incident and put it up.
The charging of illegal fees for WAEC certificate collection has been happening in silence in many schools, especially in private pre-tertiary institutions.
Addressing the issue in an interview on Otec FM’s morning show “Nyansapo”, hosted by Kwaku Owusu Boateng on Monday, the Ashanti Regional Public Relations Officer for the GES, Henry Osei Boateng, clarified that the cost of WAEC certificates is already covered during WASSCE registration.
- Students and parents have been urged to report any such illegal fees to the appropriate authorities for immediate action.
- There is the need for public education on the rights of students when it comes to collecting their BECE or WASSCE certificates.
- Teachers and head teachers of both public and private schools must desist from collecting such illegal fees.
The Ghana Education News Editorial Team is a specialized collective of education researchers, journalists, and policy analysts dedicated to providing high-fidelity reporting on the Ghanaian academic landscape. Serving as a primary bridge between governing bodies—including the Ghana Education Service (GES) and WAEC—and the public, the team leverages over a decade of combined experience to serve students, parents, and educators nationwide.
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The team is led by Wisdom Kojo Eli Hammond, a distinguished Ghanaian Edu-Tech Entrepreneur, AI Solutions Developer, and Product Architect with over 25 years of cross-disciplinary experience in education, finance, and digital media. Wisdom is the visionary force behind SkulManager, Ghana’s premier school management ecosystem, and the Lead Consultant at Education-News Consult.
A self-taught innovator, professional Web Designer, and regular columnist on GhanaWeb, Wisdom engineered SkulManager.com as the only platform strictly tailored to the GES Curriculum. His technical leadership has redefined educational assessment through a Hybrid Marking Ecosystem, pioneering the BECE and WASSCE Home Mock services—a unique fusion of WAEC-trained human examiners and advanced AI marking engines operational since 2022.
Wisdom’s 360-degree view of institutional challenges is grounded in his tenure as College President and Lecturer at Pinnacle College (Achimota), as well as his background as a school administrator and accountant. He is a dedicated lifelong learner currently advancing his studies at the Accra Institute of Technology (AIT), with academic ties to the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA).
An accomplished author, his works include Returnees of the Dead Forest (UK Published), Simplified Beacon of Light (850+ Q&A), and The Leader in Me. A foundational pillar of the award-winning NGO Human Rights Reporters Ghana (HRRG), Wisdom is committed to building intelligent systems that solve societal problems and prepare the next generation of Ghanaian students for a digital future.
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