The majority leader in Parliament Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu has stated that the government will continue to absorb the registration fee for the Basic Education Certificate Examination for the basic schools in the country.

Presenting the 2021 budget, the Minister said the about 416,066 candidates who will sit for this year’s BECE exams will not have to pay any registration since the government will take care of it.

“Mr Speaker, Government in 2020, absorbed the examination registration fees for the 403,878 candidates from public Junior High Schools across the country. In 2021, the registration fee for 416,066 candidates from public Junior High Schools will also be absorbed,” he said.

He further stated that the implementation of the Free SHS Programme has resulted in increased demand for secondary education, bringing the total number of beneficiaries for the 2019/2020 academic year to 1,200,580 students.

Speaking on the measures taken by the government to make College education accessible, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu said “to make Colleges of Education freely accessible to all eligible students and train teachers to drive quality education provision, an amount of GH¢78,857,120 was disbursed to a total of 47,135 teacher trainees in all public Colleges of Education for the second semester of the 2019/2020 academic year. In 2021, an amount of GH¢171,241,500 will be paid for the first and second semesters of the 2020/2021 academic year.”