Three outstanding students who sat to the West African Senior Secondary School Examination Certificate (WASSCE) for the academic year 2012, on Tuesday received the prestigious ‘International Excellence and Distinction Award’ of the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) during its 61st Annual Council Meeting in Banjul.

The three awardees, all Ghanaians, are Yvette Yeboah-Kordieh, Ayambire Josbert Abaasah and Tsevi Bright Seyram Kwame. They received the prestigious award at the Jamaa Hall of the Kairaba Beach Hotel in Kololi.

Speaking before the presentation of the awards, a Gambian non-Council member of the WAEC Endowment Fund, Makaireh A. Njie, said the move was meant to reward the outstanding performance in the Council’s examinations, as well as to motivate those candidates preparing for the next examinations.

Since its inception in 1984, according to him, the award presentations have become a regular feature of Annual Council Meetings. Njie extended their warmest congratulations to the winners ontheir laudable academic achievements.“We are proud of you and we hope your achievements will inspire your brothers and sisters,” he stated.

Njie explained that the Excellence Award is given to the top three performers among the total number of candidates from all member countries who sat to the Council’s International Examination in a given year. With that presentation, he noted, three more well deserving candidates have added their names to the long list of distinguished and high achievers, bringing the number to 63 in 30 years.

“To be eligible for the Excellence Award, a candidate must have obtained A1 grades in at least six subjects, including English language, Mathematics, one of Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Science; and one subject from any of the other two categories of core subjects. In addition, a candidate must have obtained a minimum of C6 in at least one subject from each of the core subject sub-categories. In the case of candidates having the same aggregate and meeting all the other conditions equally, their T-scores are considered,” he explained further.

Since the first presentation of the award in Monrovia in 1985, according to him, two facts have emerged from the records of the International Excellence/Merit Awards, including the fact that winners of the awards have always been high flyers whose academic excellence spanned their primary and secondary school careers.

Njie expressed hope that the tradition of excellence and the inducement in the form of certificates and cash donations associated with the prizes would serve not only as a reward for the winners, but also as a challenge and a potent motivating force in those candidates who would be sitting for the Council’s examinations in the future. “On behalf of the Board of Trustees of the WAEC Endowment Fund, I congratulate the winners for their hard work and success. I sincerely hope that the award winners will inspire other young West Africans to strive for excellence,” he stated.

Commenting on the Council’s Endowment Fund, he informed that it was established by WAEC at its 30th Annual Meeting in 1982. The principal aims of the Fund, he explained, are to promote educational development projects of an international nature and to also provide awards for outstanding performance by candidates in the Council’s examinations.

“In addition to the execution of the aforementioned aims, the Fund is also engaged in short term projects in the forms of research into aptitude testing, development of integrated curricula and syllabi, development of text books, and other projects that are relevant to the furtherance of its general aims,” he indicated.

The Fund, according to Njie, is administered by a 12-member Board of Trustees, which exercises general direction over the fund, and in particular, examines and approves proposed projects. “The composition of the Board includes the chairman of the Council, chief government nominees of member countries, one non-Council member from each country, nominated by Council’s National Committees and appointed by the Council and the registrar to the Council,” he concluded.
Author: Aji Fatou Faal

http://observer.gm/africa/gambia/article/waec-awards-3-best-wassce-2012-candidates

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