Fees for ‘WAEC’ BECE and WASSCE under ‘Free SHS’ are free – MoE

Fees for school examinations thus BECE and WASSCE conducted by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) for final-year students in government Junior and Senior High Schools are free, the Minister for Education has said.

Education Minister, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum says under the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) policy, all registration and other examination costs used to be incurred by the parents of candidates have been absorbed by the government.

In an interview monitored by Thisterm.com, the Minister of Education and Bosomtwe Member of Parliament said the central government absorption of the BECE and WASSCE fees forms part of an effort to ensure quality education.

“The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) examinations under the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) are free, BECE is free, WASSCE is also free,” the Minister in Charge of Education said on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem show.

Commenting on the conduct of this year’s examinations, Dr Adutwum said his outfit in collaboration with the non-profit organization (WAEC) will randomise questions for the 2024 national and International examinations.

The Minister for Education said prospective candidates in the country to participate in any of the West Africa Examinations Council (WAEC) School examinations may soon be answering different questions for the same subjects.

Honourable Adutwum indicated the new strategy is part of several measures put in place by the Council responsible for the conduct of BECE and WASSCE to curb examination malpractices at every level, particularly in the exam hall.

In a related development, Africa Education Watch (EduWatch) has said some public heads of Senior High Schools are demanding registration fees for the 2024 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) candidates.

Despite the government’s absorption of the 2024 WASSCE registration fees, the Director of EduWatch in a social media post said some second-cycle schools allegedly are levying students up to GH₵700 for the International examination.

“This year, the government is spending about GH₵170 million on WASSCE Registration, including written, oral and practical papers under free SHS. Meanwhile, some SHS are allegedly demanding up to GHC 700 for WASSCE,” he said.