Sierra Leone News: Gov’t Pays Exam Fees & Subventions
By Stephen V. Lansana
The government of Sierra Leone, through the Ministry of Finance has paid the 2019 examination Fees to the West Africa Examinations Council (WAEC) and the 2019 Quarter II subventions to tertiary institutions in the country.
The Ministry of Finance said in a statement that it has paid the sum of Le4,628,310,000 to WAEC as final payment for the 2019 National Primary School Examination (NPSE), and Le11,287,350,000, as final payment for West Africa Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for candidates of the just concluded May/June 2019 Examination.
According to the ministry, these payments are in addition to an initial disbursement of Le3,527,730,000 and Le16,200,000,000 for NPSE and WASSCE 2019 respectively. The Ministry has also made an upfront initial payment of Le7,000,000,000 to WAEC for the 2019 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) that is due this July.
“Therefore, the total amount paid to the WAEC for 135,934 NPSE and 120,000 WASSCE and BECE candidates for 2019 is Le42,643,390,000. These payments cover all pupils in government and government assisted schools that are in the examinations classes across the country as part of government’s commitment under the flagship Free Quality Education Programme to provide free tuition, teaching and learning materials, as well as examination fees,” the ministry statement added.
The Ministry also said that it has paid the second quarter subvention to universities and colleges, pointing out that the sum of Le45,524,117,500 has been paid as second quarter subventions to all public tertiary institutions, namely: University of Sierra Leone (USL), Njala University (NU) Ernest Bai Koroma University (EBK), Milton Margai College of Education and Technology (MMCET) Freetown Teachers College (FTC) and Eastern Polytechnic.
According to the ministry, this is also in addition to Le45,524,117,500 paid in the first quarter of 2019, making the amount to universities and colleges from January to June 2019, Le91,048,235,000.
