Shekarau tasks WAEC on global best practices in member nations

Shekarau tasks WAEC on global best practices in member nations


THE Minister of Education, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau has tasked the West African Examinations Council, WAEC to adopt global best practices in strategic human capital development process of member nations.

He said: ‘’WAEC should be at its best always by adopting global best practices in view of its strategic role in the human capital development process of member nations.’’

The Minister who noted that WAEC has been in the business of educational assessment for over six decades, urged the Council to continue to collaborate with other examining bodies to enable them benefit from its experience and expertise.

Shekarau who described WAEC’s mandate of conducting credible examinations and maintaining educational standards as an onerous task, urged the examination body to fight against examination malpractice adding that, it is in tandem with the anti-corruption policy of Nigeria.

Speaking during 63rd annual meeting of WAEC held in Lagos, the Minister in his keynote address commended WAEC for her immeasurable contribution to the development of sound education and delivering world-class services to stakeholders in the West African sub-.

Shekarau who was represented by the Permanent Secretary,promised to ensure that efforts were intensified by other stakeholders in education towards the eradication of examination malpractice.

He also advised stakeholders in education sector to assist in preserving the integrity of public examinations. ‘’By so doing, they would be guarding the credibility of the certificates issued to their children,’’ he said.

The Annual Meeting which ended in Lagos, with the election of Dr. D. Evelyn S. Kandakai of Liberia as the 18th Chairman of the sub-regional organization made her the first female to be elected into that position.

Her election is for a three-year tenure in line with the Convention’s rules. She succeeds Emeritus Professor P. A. I. Obanya of Nigeria, who was elected in March 2012.

Extension of solidarity

Also speaking on the occasion, the Minister of Education, Republic of Liberia – Mrs. Etmonia David Tarpeh – recalled with emotion the circumstances which forced Liberia to give up preparations for the 63rd Annual Council Meeting, and expressed gratitude to the Government and people of Nigeria for the assistance and solidarity extended to Liberia in difficult times. She appreciated the Management and staff of WAEC for the arrangement put in place for the hosting of the meeting on behalf of Liberia.

Council, which is the governing board of WAEC, holds its yearly meeting in rotation among thefive member countries – The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.

The scheduled host for the 63rd Annual Meeting was the Republic of Liberia but due to the outbreak of the Ebola virus disease in the country, the Council’s headquarters undertook all the arrangements for the meeting on behalf of Liberia and shifted the venue to Lagos. The meeting was hosted in 2014 by the Republic of Sierra Leone and it will be the turn of Ghana to host in 2016 and Nigeria in 2017.

Delegates from the five member countries who attended the three-day meeting were made up of government nominees as well as representatives of the member states’ ministries of education, universities, secondary schools and other interest groups.

The meeting also featured the 20th Annual WAEC Endowment Fund Lecture entitled: What Are We Writing on the Slate: A Holistic Preparation of the Youth, which was delivered by Hon. Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Liberia.

During the deliberations, Council received reports on the activities of the five member country offices in the preceding year, and ratified the decisions taken on its behalf by the various committees.

Council also considered the action plan presented by the country offices and committees for hitch-free operations in the current year.

Cooperation and assistance

Council appreciated the Governments of the member countries for their goodwill, cooperation and assistance since inception in 1952 and expressed gratitude to the teachers, officials of the ministries of education, the security agencies and all other stakeholders in the member countries who have constantly been assisting WAEC to achieve success in its operations and activities.

Council further commended Management of the various WAEC offices for implementing effective innovations that had brought improvements in the operations of the examining board.

It expressed deep sorrow over the loss of lives and property in the wake of the Ebola epidemic and activities of insurgents in some member countries, and urged the country offices to remain vigilant and proactive to ensure that candidates were not exposed to any form of danger while sitting WAEC examinations.

At the opening ceremony, three candidates were honoured with the WAEC International Excellence Award in recognition of their outstanding performance in the May/June 2014 WASSCE. They were Master Mickail Hasan (1st Prize), Master Blaykyi Kenyah (2nd Prize) and Master Archibald Henry Enninful (3rd Prize). The three candidates, all Ghanaians, were selected from a total of 2,018,497 candidates who sat the examination in the five member countries.

TheAugustus Bandele Oyediran Award for the Best Candidate in West Africa was also presented to Master Mickail Hasan.

Tweet