NPP National Women’s Organiser aspirant Mavis Hawa Koomson has alleged that the NDC deliberately caused poor BECE results because it is unwilling to fund first-year tertiary fees. However, no evidence has emerged to substantiate the allegation.
Mavis Hawa Koomson, an NPP National Women’s Organiser aspirant, has accused the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) of deliberately causing students to perform poorly in the 2026 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
Koomson reportedly made the claim on Friday, September 11, 2026, saying the NDC had “intentionally failed” BECE students because it was not prepared to pay their fees at Level 100.
What Hawa Koomson alleged
According to the statement attributed to Koomson:
“NDC has intentionally failed BECE students because they are not ready to pay free fees for level 100 students.”
The allegation suggests that examination results were deliberately manipulated to reduce the number of students who would eventually qualify for tertiary education and therefore become beneficiaries of the government’s No-Academic-Fees policy.
GhanaMedia has found no evidence from WAEC, the Ministry of Education, the Ghana Education Service or another authoritative source establishing that the 2026 BECE results were deliberately manipulated for this purpose.
The Level 100 issue
There is an important educational distinction in Koomson’s claim.
The BECE is taken at the end of basic education and is used in the process of placing successful candidates into second-cycle institutions.
For the 2026 placement exercise, the Ghana News Agency reported that 527,932 candidates had secured places in Senior High Schools (SHSs), Senior High Technical Schools (SHTSs) and Technical and Vocational institutions.
Therefore, a BECE candidate does not move directly from the examination into university Level 100. A student would generally progress through second-cycle education before becoming eligible for tertiary admission.
Ghana’s No-Academic-Fees policy
The government does have a policy covering academic fees for eligible first-year students in public tertiary institutions.
The Students Loan Trust Fund (SLTF) says the No-Academic-Fees policy was designed to cover the academic fees of first-year students admitted to public tertiary institutions.
The official No-Fees-Stress portal also identifies No Academic Fees as a government initiative covering academic fees for Ghanaian first-year students admitted to public tertiary institutions.
Government has reported substantial expenditure under the wider No-Fees-Stress programme. The Ghana News Agency reported in July that GH¢900.353 million had been provided to support 317,841 students under the programme.
Concerns over the 2026 BECE results
The 2026 BECE results have attracted genuine concerns from some parents, schools and education stakeholders.
WAEC’s provisional results release reported that some candidates’ results had been withheld or cancelled over examination irregularities.
More recently, the National Council of Parent-Teacher Associations called for a technical review of the assessment and results-processing system, including marking, moderation, grade conversion, standardisation and possible anomalies.
These concerns are legitimate matters of public discussion, but they do not by themselves establish Koomson’s allegation of deliberate political manipulation.
GhanaMedia verification
VERDICT: QUOTE VERIFIED — ALLEGATION UNPROVEN
GhanaMedia can verify that the statement attributed to Mavis Hawa Koomson was publicly reported and reproduced by current Ghanaian media coverage.
However, the central allegation — that the NDC deliberately caused BECE students to fail because it did not want to pay future Level 100 fees — has not been independently established.
The distinction is important: Koomson made the allegation; that does not make the allegation a proven fact.
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Source: YEN.com.gh , Ghana News Agency , WAEC and Students Loan Trust Fund .
