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A Gambian emerges as WAEC new chairman

   Mr Baboucarr Bouy
The 66th Annual Meeting of The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has ended in Banjul, the Gambia with the election of the country’s Mr. Baboucarr Bouy as the 19th Chairman of the sub-regional organisation.His election is for three-year tenure in line with the Council’s Convention. He succeeds Dr. D. Evelyn S. Kandakai of Liberia, who was elected in March 2015.

The 66th Meeting, which was held from Monday, 19th to Friday, 23rd March 2018, was declared open by His Excellency Adama Barrow, President of the Republic of The Gambia, who was represented on the occasion by the Vice President, Her Excellency Hajia Fatoumata Tambajang.

In his keynote address, President Adama Barrow who welcomed the delegates to The Gambia, the Smiling Coast of Africa described WAEC as a unique institution within the West African sub-region and the comity of assessment boards which had consistently played prominent roles in educational reforms and development in the member countries. He expressed delight that the Council was set to conduct the maiden edition of the Gambia Basic Education Certificate Examination (GABECE) for Private Candidates in December 2018.

“That examination would offer a number of students the opportunity to further their education beyond Grade 9. The President disclosed that his government had taken over the payment of examination fees at both Basic and Secondary Education levels in The Gambia so as to expand access for all.”

He gave the assurance that the fees would be remitted promptly to WAEC to guarantee quality service delivery and assured the stakeholders that his government would fulfil its financial commitments to the Council despite the prevailing economic situation.

President Barrow decried the spate of malpractice in public examinations, adding that his government was collaborating with the Council to implement a number of measures against the evil. He then urged other member governments to maintain zero tolerance for examination fraud by relentlessly waging a war against the menace.

The Council, which is the governing board of WAEC, holds its yearly meeting in rotation among the five member countries – The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. The meeting was held in 2017 in Nigeria and it will be the turn of Serra Leone to host in 2019 and Liberia in 2020. Delegates from the five member countries who attended the five-day meeting were made up of government nominees as well as representatives of the ministries of education, universities, secondary schools and other interest groups.

At the opening of the 23rd Annual WAEC Endowment Fund Lecture entitled Development Partners/Government Partnership in Education Sector Financing: Perspectives on Respective Roles, Opportunities and Responsibilities in the Identification of Needed Improvement Interventions, the Eventual Design of Related Projects and the Provision of the Conditions for Effective Implementation: three candidates were honoured with the WAEC International Excellence Award in recognition of their outstanding performance in WASSCE for School Candidates, 2017.

They were Miss Jochebed Adwoa Sutherland (1st Prize), Miss Audrey Emefa Awuttey (2nd Prize) and Miss Rachel Amaning Kwarteng (3rd Prize). The three candidates, all Ghanaians, were selected from a total of 1,909,088 candidates who sat the examination in the five member countries.

The Augustus Bandele Oyediran Award for the Best Candidate in West Africa was also presented to Miss Jochebed Adwoa Sutherland.

 

Source : Grassroots Publishers

 

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