Govt has been exposed for denying its indebtedness to WAEC - Dr Apaak

A Deputy Ranking Member on the Education Committee of Parliament, Dr Clement Apaak has taken Deputy Education Minister Dr Ntim Fordjour to the cleaners for denying that the government was indebted to the West African Examination Council to the tune of GH¢21 million.

The lawmaker says instead of ensuring WAEC is said the GH¢23 million debt owed, the Education Minister Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum unleashed his favourite Deputy, Fordjour, to lie that the government doesn’t owe WAEC, and he ( Apaak) was doing propaganda.

Dr Apaak referenced a statement made by the Ranking Member on the Education Committee, Peter Notsu-Kotoe who stated that WASSCE would be postponed if the government does not pay the GH¢23 million it owes WAEC.

The Ranking revealed that parliament met with WAEC to ascertain their preparedness for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and WASSCE this year with staggering findings.

It is surprising to note that WAEC still owes supervisors, invigilators, and script checkers their allowances for their work in the 2021 BECE. If you could remember, the government promised to pay registration fee for all BECE candidates so WAEC no longer charges for registration but our checks indicate they (government) have not paid even one cedi for this year’s BECE and WASSCE. The government owes WAEC a total of GH¢23 million for the conduct of the last year’s examination and if monies are not paid by the end of next week, there are very possibilities of postponing this year’s WASSCE which is scheduled to begin on August 1, 2022. WACE needs the money to print examination papers, transport them and also provide for security. It is however sad that government is yet to release funds to them.

Also, the Vice Chairman of the Education Committee of Parliament, Dr Prince Hamid Armah has revealed that the government has instructed the Controller and Accountant General Department to make available an amount of ¢50M for the conduct of the West Africa Examinations Council Examinations (WASSCE).

Dr. Armah confirmed that indeed the government was in debt of the said amount to WAEC but the government was working hard towards settling this debt to see through that the 2022 exams is successful.

“It is important to note that last year 2021, WAEC presented a budget total of Gh¢128,000,000 towards the conduct of both the BECE and WASSCE. Out of this huge figure, government had paid Gh¢105,000,000, I mean that’s an absolutely huge amount out of the total budget they submitted.

“So yes there’s is an outstanding of GH¢23,000,000 for 2021. WAEC also presented a budget for 2022 WASSCE and they expect that some disbursement will be made but he has to understand that government cash-roll in terms of revenue generation is accrued on daily basis so we need to get the money and be able to distribute to the various sectors of the country. So they submitted and they expect that those monies will be made available so that the 1st August examination can occur,” he stressed.

“WAEC initially had requested for 6 million but government was committed to the proper distribution of education. He went ahead to assure the public that the controller accountant general had been instructed to make available 50 million Ghana Cedi”.

“So I will assure the public that government is very committed to ensuring that the 2022 examination is conducted and is conducted successfully”.

Dr. reacting to these comments posited that the government has been exposed badly for lying about its indebtedness to WAEC.

For him, it made no sense for the deputy education minister to deny the obvious truth.

He said Dr Fordjour, the Deputy Minister for Education has been further exposed for lying by the Vice Chairman of the Education Committee of Parliament, Dr Prince Hamid Armah, NPP MP for Kwesimintsim.

Dr Armah confirmed that indeed the government was in debt of the said amount to WAEC but then the government was working hard towards settling this debt to see through that the 2022 exams are successful.

“So yes there’s is an outstanding of Gh¢23,000,000 for 2021. WAEC also presented a budget for 2022 WASSCE and they expect that some disbursement will be made but he has to understand that government cash roll in terms of revenue generation is accrued on daily basis so we need to get the money and be able to distribute to the various sectors of the country. So they submitted and they expect that those monies will be made available so that the 1st August examination can occur,” Dr. Apaak recounted the statement of Dr Armah.