Appiah Kusi Adomako
Consumer advocacy think tank, CUTS International, has petitioned the Ministry of Education and Parliament to intervene and compel the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to scrap fees charged to students for accessing their Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results online.
In a press statement issued on Monday, July 7, 2025, the West Africa Regional Director of CUTS, Appiah Kusi Adomako, described WAEC’s scratch card system as exploitative, outdated, and “bordering on extortion.”
“In many parts of the world, examination bodies do not charge students to access their results. Why should Ghana be different?” Mr. Adomako queried.
He criticised WAEC’s continued demand for students to purchase scratch cards costing between GH¢15 and GH¢25 to check their results, despite the shift to a digital platform that has significantly reduced operational costs.
“Before 2004, WAEC printed and delivered physical result slips to schools, which incurred huge logistical costs. But now, going digital was supposed to make things cheaper. Instead, about 600,000 candidates who wrote the BECE this year may end up paying an estimated GH¢9 million collectively just to view their results,” he noted.
Mr. Adomako also cited practices in other countries – including South Africa, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Kenya, and Zambia – where students access their results online for free, urging Ghana to follow suit.
SHS Placement Costs
CUTS also raised similar concerns over fees charged to students to access their Senior High School placements via the Computerized School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS).
“The CSSPS was introduced to ensure transparency and lower costs. Yet, students still have to pay just to check which school they’ve been placed in. This defeats the very aim of automation,” Mr. Adomako stated.
Urgent Policy Action
The think tank is urging the Ministry of Education, the Ghana Education Service, and the Parliamentary Select Committee on Education to act swiftly and decisively to end what it describes as a “21-year-old illegal and unfair practice.”
“WAEC is not the only body that runs exams. Students who sit for ACCA, SAT, TOEFL, GRE, IELTS, and even National Service postings access their results or placements online for free,” Mr. Adomako argued.
He urged authorities to ensure that access to education remains affordable and equitable, saying, “Accessing exam results or school placements should not be a luxury or a source of revenue. It must be treated as a basic educational right.”
A Daily Guide Report