The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has assured the public of its preparedness to administer the 2024 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) despite outstanding debts owed by the government.

The exams are scheduled to take place from Monday, July 8 to July 15, across various centers nationwide.

Concerns had been raised by stakeholders regarding WAEC's ability to conduct the BECE due to these financial challenges.

However, during a press conference in Accra on Friday, WAEC confirmed it is fully equipped to facilitate the examinations for 569,095 candidates from 19,506 schools.

John Kapi, Head of Public Affairs at WAEC, stated in an interview that the government had paid GH¢55.8 million of the total owed amount as of Thursday, July 4, which is sufficient to proceed with the examination.

“We can assure everybody that on the 4th of July, we began dispatching our staff to the various examination centres to manage depots and organize the examination.

So, yes, we are giving the assurance that the exams will go on as planned.

“So far, we have received about GH¢55.8 million from the government, which is adequate for us to conduct the examination successfully.

For now, the funds received are specifically for the BECE,” he said.

Mr Kapi also mentioned that plans are well advanced for the release of additional funds to support the process and ensure timely release of the results.