The delay in announcing the results of the 2024 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for school candidates has caused the Conference of Heads of Private Second-Cycle Schools (CHOPSS) to express grave worry, stating that the situation might have been prevented.
The West African Examination Council (WAEC), in a statement released on December 9, 2024, blamed the delay on a problem with the scanners that process objective cards. The problem has been made worse by the Ministry of Education’s unpaid debt of GH₵118,000,000, which WAEC claims must be paid immediately to solve.
The government has come under fire from CHOPSS for its slow response to the issue, particularly as private school pupils who have paid their WASSCE registration fees in full are being unjustly impacted.
Because institutions all around Ghana have January 2025 admission deadlines, the delay is especially concerning as it could endanger the future of several students whose admittance depends on their test results.
CHOPSS also pointed out that private schools, who have no debts to WAEC, would have asked for the independent release of their results if the scanner malfunction hadn’t happened.
In order to avoid more disturbances and allay the mounting worries of parents, students, and administrators at private schools, the Council demanded that the government take urgent action.
“This situation is simply unacceptable…for eight years, we have been excluded from participating in the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy. Our classrooms have been left almost empty as parents face difficult economic decisions when choosing schools for their children.”
Given these persistent difficulties, CHOPSS is urging the government to pay the remaining amount owed to WAEC immediately in order to guarantee the prompt publication of the test results.
The statement also cautions that private schools, working with parents and kids, will have to take additional steps to resolve the issue if a favorable answer is not obtained in the next few days.
Source: Citinewsroom