The West African Examination Council (WAEC) has stated that it has no plans to reconsider its new charges for clients, despite threats from the Ghana National Association of Private Schools (GNAPS).The council emphasized its commitment to its decision, citing the need to adjust to the increasing costs associated with managing examination processes.

Director of Public Affairs at WAEC, John Kapi, explained that the council takes various factors into account when determining examination fees, including the rising costs of printing materials.Kapi described the threats of a boycott by GNAPS as "petty," highlighting the importance of maintaining the integrity of the examination process.

“For example, before we come out with examination fees, we consider a number of things. Now, we do the printing of the question papers ourselves and for the bond paper that we use in printing, we have to import. And so the parameters that we use are based on market prices or market conditions.”

“We look at inflation, exchange rate, port charges and all of these are looked at before we come up with our estimates about what we are going to charge. Obviously, already this year, fuel prices are beginning to shoot up high, we don't know where it will get to,” Mr Kapi said.

John Kapi, the Director of Public Affairs at WAEC, acknowledged that the council's budget for the year was calculated based on the previous year's data. However, he emphasized that current economic fluctuations could necessitate adjustments, potentially leading to fee increases.

This statement follows threats from the Ghana National Association of Private Schools (GNAPS) to boycott the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and the West African Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) if WAEC increases registration fees without consulting them.

Currently, students from private schools pay GH¢465 and GH¢214 for WASSCE and BECE, respectively. GNAPS is calling on the government to recognize low-fee private schools as social interventions aimed at educating children in deprived communities, and to support them accordingly.

GNAPS has also threatened to take further action if their concerns are not addressed by WAEC.

“We entreat WAEC to always negotiate with GNAPS prior to any fee increase. Let me serve notice that GNAPS will lead all pre-tertiary private schools to boycott next year’s BECE should WAEC arbitrarily increase the fees.

Mr. Kapi clarified that WAEC does not unilaterally decide on fee increases, despite GNAPS' stance.

He explained that representatives from various government offices and associations on the budget committee board help decide on any possible increments.

“We have a budget subcommittee of the board, and this is made up of people who have the requisite background. They look at the budget, we fix the figures, and then it is presented to the board itself. Now, I need people to understand that the board is chaired by the Director General of the Ghana Education Service.”

“We also have a rep from the Minister of Education, who is also the Chief Director. We have a rep from the budget department and the finance ministry. We have a rep from CHASS, a rep from the private schools association, universities, the chamber of commerce, and the Attorney General's department. So all these will come together and sit down to look at whatever we've come up with,” Mr Kapi said.