Gov’t not paying WASSCE fees

The West African Examination Council (WEAC) says the Government of Liberia will not take the responsibility of paying the fees of students or group that will be sitting the 2018 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). Addressing a news conference at its national headquarters in Congo Town on Friday, 17 November, Deputy Education Minister and Chief Chairperson of the Council Dr. Romelle A. Horton told journalists of the huge cost involved.

Dr. Horton says considering the student population and huge cost attached, government is in no longer in a financial position to shoulder the responsibility of paying examination fees for any group of candidates at WASSCE level. “We’re therefore appealing to parents, corporate organizations, international donors, agencies and philanthropic private individuals to braze up towards the payment of WASSCE fees for their children, and ward or the provision of scholarship for their indigent students,” she says.

According to her, it has become absolutely necessary to sensitize stakeholders in the education sector with respect to the need for individual and collective efforts at providing funds for the examination, particularly the payment of examination fees at the registration stages by both schools and private candidates.

At the same time the Deputy Minister, and Chief Government nominee to the Council Dr. Romelle A. Horton adds that the Liberia Examination Committee received reports on the examination conducted by WAEC in Liberia during 2016/2017 period.

According to her, the committee considers reports on irregularity cases and applied appropriate sanctions against all the candidates that are proven to be involved in the malpractice of the examination. She says the committee expresses delight that there was no leakage of question papers in Liberia during the reporting period.

“We want to urge the government to take urgent steps to prevent the rogue websites that operate as distribution center for examination fraudsters in some member countries from taking root in Liberia,” she adds.

Meanwhile, the committee congratulates the government of Liberia on the country’s full adoption of WASSCE, which has now given every Liberian child the opportunity and confidence to compare and compete with their mates internationally.

She notes that the statistics of performance in the 2017 Liberian Senior High School Certificate Examination (LSHSCE) and WASSCE be taken as a wakeup call to concerted efforts by all stakeholders towards improving the teaching or the learning process in the school system here.

For his part, the Head of WAEC Liberia Office Mr. Dale G. Gbotoe urges every Liberian student not to be afraid of the WASSCE, saying he strongly believes Liberian students are not inferior to the test.

“I strongly believe if Liberian students are given the chance and opportunity as compared to others, they can better compete with their peers in the region, and even students outside of this region,” he notes.

BY Lewis S. Teh –Edited by Winston W. Parley