The West Africa Examination Council, WAEC, has called on governments, law enforcement agencies, ICT companies and experts in the sub-region to collaborate with examination bodies and other educational institutions in fashioning sustainable means of ridding examination fraud.
This, the Council said, became necessary because of “the depth and dimensions of irregularities in public examinations in member countries of The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone”.
This was part of the communique issued at the 67th annual meeting of the Council held recently in Freetown, Sierra Leone and signed by Head, Public Affairs, Public Affairs Department, WAEC headquarters, Accra Ghana, Abiodun Aduloju.
“The measure is very important in order to curb malpractice which has become the major hindrance to quality examination across board,” the communique read.
WAEC holds its meeting annually on rotational basis among the five member countries with the 2018 meeting hosted in The Gambia while the 2020 edition is slated for Liberia.
At the 67th meeting, the Council reviewed the activities and operations of the organisation in the five member countries in the past year.
It considered reports from its national and international committees on various aspects of the organisation’s operations and ratified the decisions taken on its behalf by the committees.
It also deliberated on the action plans presented by the committees and the national offices and firmed up strategies for hitch-free operations in the current year.
Furthermore, the Council received reports from the leaders of the country delegations and lauded the people-oriented programmes and initiatives being implemented in the education sector of their respective countries.
It expressed appreciation to governments of member countries for their renewed commitment to educational matters and the conduct of credible public examinations.
On grey areas, it called on the governments to step up interventions for further assurances of access to quality education, improved academic attainments and enhancement of human capital development.
It also expressed appreciation for member countries’ commitments to keeping WAEC in existence for sixty -seven years.
Council commended the management and staff of its country offices and headquarters for the successful conduct of examinations, early release of results and prompt issuance of certificates.
At the opening ceremony, Master Peter Seunara Arotiba (1st Prize), Miss Wilhermina Opoku (2nd Prize) and Miss Brago Sarpong Afrifa (3rd Prize) were honoured with the WAEC International Excellence Awards for their outstanding performance in WASSCE for School Candidates, 2018.
The three winners emerged from a total of 1,976,537 candidates who sat for WASSCE in 2018 in The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
The Augustus Bandele Oyediran Best Candidate in West Africa Award was also presented to Master Peter Seunara Arotiba.
Council appealed to international donor agencies, corporate organisations and philanthropic private individuals to collaborate with WAEC by instituting other awards to encourage more students in the sub-region to strive for academic excellence.
Earlier in his keynote address, President of Sierra Leone, Rtd. Brigadier Julius Maada Bio, who was represented by the Chief Minister, Professor David John Francis, described WAEC as a veritable sub-regional body administering credible examinations and unifying the member countries.
He lauded the Council for constantly demonstrating its commitment to academic excellence, regional cooperation and global best practices stating that his government had prioritised investment in human capital development by introducing Free Quality School Education.
The opening ceremony also witnessed the conferment of the prestigious award of Distinguished Friend of Council on an eminent Sierra Leonean, Mr. A. J. Lasite, former Item-Writer, Chief Examiner, Supervisor, invigilator and member of Council, for his outstanding contribution to the success of the work of WAEC.
