Accra, July 7, GNA – CUTS International, a public policy and consumer advocacy think tank, has called on the Ministry of Education to compel the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to stop charging candidates fees to access their BECE and WASSCE results online.
It said WAEC’s practice of requiring students to purchase scratch cards to view their Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results online was not only unnecessary but borders on extortion.
CUTS International said demanding fee from candidates before allowing them access to their exams result was “exploitative and unjustified.”
“In many parts of the world, exam bodies do not charge students to access their results. In our local universities, students are able to access their results free of charge as it pertains to every jurisdiction,” it said.
“This is a basic right that should not come at a cost to students or their families,” a statement signed and issued by Mr Appiah Kusi Adomako, West Africa Regional Director of CUTS, said on Monday.
The statement said before 2004, WAEC printed and distributed physical results slips to schools, which came with significant logistical costs, indicating that, since transitioning to an online system, those costs had drastically reduced.
Despite the shift, it said, candidates were now being asked to pay between GHS 15 and GHS 25 just to view their results, adding additional financial burden to parents.
“This year for example, about 600,000 candidates wrote the BECE and granted each candidate is paying GHS 15, this will translate to a total of GHC 9 million,” it said.
“Going digital was supposed to make things easier and more affordable, but instead, candidates are now forced to pay out of pocket for a service that should be free.”
The statement cited countries like South Africa, Egypt, Tunisia, Morrocco, Kenya and Zambia, where students access their results online without paying any fee, questioning why a similar system should bring extra cost to students in Ghana.
The statement also raised concerns over the cost burden placed on students who were accessing their Senior High School placement through the Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS), explaining that the system was introduced to improve transparency and reduce costs compared to the old manual process.
“Yet today, students still have to pay just to find out which school they have been placed in. This defeats the very purpose of automation,” it added.
The statement, therefore, called on the sector Ministry, the Ghana Education Service, and the Parliamentary Select Committee on Education, to act swiftly and decisively to end what it described as “illegal and unfair” practice starting this year.
“WAEC is not the only body that runs examinations. Students who sit for ACCA, SAT, TOEFL, GRE, IELTS, and even our own national service postings access their results or placements online for free. The same should apply here,” it said.
“The fact that this practice has persisted for 21 years does not justify its legitimacy. Accessing exam results or computerised placement into SHS should not be a luxury or a source of revenue. It should be a basic service as it pertains in other jurisdictions.”
It urged the authorities to ensure that education remained accessible and affordable.
GNA