The West African Examination Council (WAEC) has announced that, the Basic Education Certification Examination (BECE) has not been cancelled, as against reports on social media.
The Head of Public Relations for the examination body, Mr. John K. Kapi stated that, the general public should debunk the assertions that BECE, which is slated for July, has been cancelled due to financial constraints.
Speaking on UTV’s 'Mpu Ne Mpu' on Friday, June 21, 2024, Mr. Kapi stated that, in spite of the financial constraints being faced by the Examination council, the general public is assured that the BECE has not been cancelled.
Mr. Kapi, however, added that, there could be a possible postponing if the government fails to release the funds needed to administer the exams.
“Those of us in WAEC are ever ready to conduct the BECE. We are facing gross financial constraints, however, we never mentioned that we have cancelled BECE as has been falsely circulated on social media. That is not true. What we said was that, we have put several measures in place to have the exams conducted but if the money doesn’t come, maybe we shall postpone it. So we haven’t cancelled BECE,” he explained.
Mr. Kapi stated that, WAEC was not facing these financial challenges prior to the introduction of the free basic education which saw the government taking it upon itself to absorb all fees, including examination fees.
He noted that, if the government does not respond to the clarion call for the money to be released to the council to facilitate the examinations, then it is most likely to have the BECE postponed.
“As for the BECE, it will be written. We are almost done with the printing, but we need money to fuel the cars that will transport the examination papers to the various examination centres. We need money to pay the personnel who will supervise the examinations as well as the invigilators who will ensure that there are no examination malpractices. It is a chain of activities that needs money to have them facilitated. If the money is not available, pulling all these arrangements through will be strenuous," John Kapiu stated.
<<Print>>