WAEC is Struggling to Pay Invigilators and Supervisors

The West African Examination Council (WAEC) has cited the government’s outstanding debt of GH¢57.3 million as the reason for its inability to pay certain invigilators and supervisors. Specifically, GH¢9.9 million is owed for the 2022 examinations, while GH¢47.4 million is owed for the 2023 examinations, comprising GH¢40 million for the main examination and GH¢7.4 million for practical exams.

Cornelius Azumah, the Director of Finance at the WAEC National Office, confirmed this during a press conference in Accra. He assured the service providers that efforts were being made to secure the funds from the government in order to compensate them.

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“In 2022, we had to utilize some of the fees received for the 2023 examination to pay supervisors and invigilators for 2022. We have been diligently following up on this matter, and they have promised to release the funds soon so that we can pay the supervisors and invigilators for 2023 and prepare them for the 2024 examination,” Azumah explained.

He further acknowledged that while some funds had already been received, there were still outstanding WAEC is struggling to pay for invigilators and supervisors. This response was given in relation to a question regarding the delay in payment to service providers for the examinations conducted during that period.

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The press conference was held to announce the opening of the WAEC portal for candidate registration for the three examinations scheduled to take place this year. John Kapi, the Head of Public Affairs at the WAEC National Office, stated that the portal for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) for both school and private candidates was opened on March 11. The registration fee for this examination is GH¢214.01, and the registration period will close on Friday, April 19, 2024.

Kapi also mentioned that the BECE would be conducted from July 8 to 12, 2024. School candidates will be examined on the common core curriculum, while private candidates will be assessed based on the old syllabus.

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The West African Secondary School Examination (WASSCE) will be exclusively administered in Ghana from August 5 to September 27, 2024. Despite the change in the examination period, the standard of the examination will remain the same, according to Mr. Kapi. He cautioned school authorities against registering non-school/unqualified candidates for the examination and fabricating continuous assessment scores for the candidates, as they will face sanctions.

The General/Advanced Business Certificate Examination (G/ABCE) will take place from August 2 to September 2, 2024. The registration portal is already open but will close on April 19.

For the WASSCE for private candidates, which is scheduled from October 25 to December 18, the registration portal will be open from Tuesday, April 2 to Friday, August 30.

Mr. Kapi emphasized that the WAEC’s rules and regulations for dealing with irregularities in the examination will be strictly enforced, and all stakeholders should abide by the law.

“The Council urges all stakeholders to ensure a smooth registration process,” he added. Because of the outstanding debts, WAEC is Struggling to pay invigilators and supervisors for  their services, but will be short out before the due date.