New BECE invigilation rate | allowance drop nationwide

New BECE invigilation rate | allowance drop nationwide

The West African Examination Council conducts an examination every year. They examine both Junior High School (JHS) candidates and Senior High/ Technical School (SHTS) candidates. Junior High School candidates write the Basic Education Certificate Examination, BECE. WAEC pays invigilators to supervise the BECE exam.

The JHS candidates write the BECE after spending nine (9) years in school. The candidates write the exam after attending basic one (1) to basic nine (9). In the past, the years spent in school before basic 1 is pre-school.

However, the government introduced new reforms to include Kindergarten 1 and 2 in the official school system. This means that candidates must spend twelve (12) years in school officially to write the BECE.

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BECE invigilation allowance

The West African Examination Council, WAEC, has released funds to pay the first tranche of allowance associated with the BECE invigilation.

The invigilators and supervisors of BECE enjoy two sets of allowances. WAEC pays one set of the allowance and the government, through GES, pays the second set of the allowance. Both the invigilators and supervisors enjoy the two allowances.

1. WAEC allowance

WAEC pays the allowance to the invigilators and supervisors. Invigilators normally refer to the allowance as transport allowance because the amount is very small. The examination body usually pays this allowance earlier than the government’s component, through GES.

WAEC pays its allowance in the following year after the examination in the preceding year.

WAEC paid the following amount to the invigilators and supervisors the previous year.
a. The institution paid Ghc19 supervisors per session
b. It also paid Ghc16 to the assistant supervisors per session
c. It paid Ghc 14 to the invigilators per session

But they pay the allowance for a few months for the next BECE examination. This practice is due to two main reasons.

First of all, the government must pay WAEC to conduct the BECE. However, the government delays making the necessary payments to WAEC. WAEC, therefore, can only pay the invigilators when the government releases funds to the institution.

Secondly, WAEC tries to settle invigilators for their work done in the preceding year. This is to prevent a potential boycott of the examination by the regular invigilators.

2. Government allowance

The government also pays invigilators and supervisors some allowance for invigilation, through GES. However, the government over delay in paying the allowance.

The allowance is very meager compared to the amount that the examination body pays to the invigilators.

Interestingly, this allowance comes after two years of work.

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Payment of BECE invigilation allowance

The WAEC has paid the BECE allowance for 2022 invigilation. The money is currently in the accounts of some districts.

One of the districts in the Volta region has announced to staff to come for their money. The district accompany the announcement with a list of staff who took part in the invigilation.

The notice asked the invigilators to meet the district accountant to receive their money. They made the announcement today 7th June 2023

Demand for an increment of the allowance

Invigilators of the Basic Education Certificate Examination continue to demand an increment of the allowances. They consider the allowance to be meager for the kind of risk they take during the invigilation.

Risk of invigilation

Invigilators and supervisors, mainly teachers, face many risks during invigilation. The candidates who are taking the national examination try to cheat despite the vigilance of the invigilators.

Candidates who know these teachers threaten the teachers and their families sometimes.

Also, parents and guardians try to compromise with the invigilators to allow cheating. Uncompromising invigilators get threatened the more.

Some uncompromising invigilators have to quit their invigilation job to safeguard their lives and families.

It is, for this reason, the invigilators continue to ask for an increase in the meager allowance.

BECE invigilation recruitment

The West African Examination Council conducts the recruitment of invigilators annually. The annual recruitment is done to shore up vacancies created. Vacancies usually occur when some invigilators resigned or when they die. Other invigilators too become incapacitated.

WAEC must, therefore, replace these invigilators.

The recruitment of invigilators is mostly done based on the recommendation of supervisors and coordinators in the various districts. That is people who work with WAEC at various districts and municipalities have the opportunity to recommend new staff for engagement.

Invigilators in distant districts may be unable to report to work satisfactorily. Therefore, examination officers who supervise WAEC examinations in the various districts must recommend new BECE invigilators in their districts or municipalities.

Any teacher who wants to invigilate BECE must engage the district officers in charge of WAEC examinations.

Fate of BECE

Parents, students, and teachers have concerns that candidates will not write BECE this year and beyond. This is because of confusion in the communication of the government’s new educational policy.

The new policy introduces a host of reforms. This includes the addition of kindergarten to the official school streams. Also, a National Standardised test will be written by students in Basic 2, basic 4, basic 6, and Basic 8.

Also, students will continue the curriculum of the Junior high school up to the first year of senior high school.

The public, therefore thinks the government will cancel BECE and replace it with an entrance examination. The Ministry of Education indicated BECE will become an entrance examination into senior high school.

However, the Director General of the Ghana Education Service has clarified that the Basic Education Certificate Examination will not be canceled. BECE will be conducted but the results will be used for placement purposes only.

This information was conveyed a long time ago by the Minister of Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum.