2020 BECE Fees: Private School Candidates Overcharged

Are Private School BECE candidates being milked via high BECE fees? This is exactly what it looks like. Candidates in private schools paid GHc 75.00 each in 2018. The GHS88 per candidate for the 2020 BECE examination is too expensive and the fact that only students in private schools will be paying these fees makes it very unfair.

2020 BECE Fees: Private School Candidates Overcharged

Government’s announcement that it will  absorb the BECE 2020 Registration fee for Public School Candidates has been the practice since  NPP government took over the governance of this country. In 2017, the exams fees was nearly doubled of that of 2016 and the private schools paid. The trend has continued ever since.

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One will not be far from right to say, the government seems to be charging each private school candidate the exams fees of three candidates. This will amount to almost GHS29.00 (GHS88/3). Thus each Private school candidate’s BECE fee of GHS88.00 paid takes care of two students in the public school.

The question is are private school candidates paying a fair examination fee?  It will be an equitable decision if government absorbs printing cost of the papers for all students irrespective of whether they attend public or private schools rather than selectively chosing public school students.

Children in private schools are mostly Ghanaians and there are varied grades of public schools. By deciding to absorb the BECE 2020 fees for public school students, government is indirectly saying, pupils who attend private schools are not Ghanaian children.

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Sadly, there are foreigners in our public schools who enjoy such support whiles Ghanaian children in private schools do not.

It is only fair that, private school candidates are not milked to indirectly pay for the examination conducted for all JHS 3  students in Ghana when they sit for the BECE each year.

The November, 13th 2019 Internal Memorandum of WAEC indicated that the government has decided to pay GHC88 per candidate which is the registration fee or cost per student. The GHS88  amounts to GHS9.77 per paper for the nine subjects to be taken.

When the private school candidate sits for the exams and makes good grades, government further gives some level of priority to public school students whether they perform well or not in placing them in second cycle institutions.

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The idea to take off the examination fee burden of parents whose ward’s are in the public school must be a policy that all BECE candidates including those in private schools should enjoy if the same exams qualifies them all to enjoy free SHS.

These children do not become citizens of Ghana after writing the BECE but prior to that, they were all citizens and must be treated fairly as far as the BECE fees is concerned. GHS88.00 per candidate for the examination is expensive no matter who one looks at it.

Stop milking BECE candidates in private schools and their parents, they deserve equal treatment. If are investing in the future of GHANA then let us not discriminate on the basis of Private and Public Schools.

Source: Wisdom Hammond