Wake-up call, as Nigeria loses out in WASSCE int’l Awards

Three Ghanaians have clinched the three prestigious awards given by WAEC yearly to the best candidates in West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination, WASSCE. The trio; Miss Jessica Ayeley Quaye, Miss Ruth Ewuraama Awadzi and Miss Danielle Amo-Mensah all of Wesley Girls’ High School, Cape Coast, Ghana, beat other West African countries to emerge the best. The result which was announced in Accra, Ghana at the 64th Annual Meeting, saw Miss Jessica Ayeley Quaye win the 1st Prize, Miss Ruth Ewura-Ama Awadzi came 2nd, while Miss Danielle Amo-Mensah won the 3rd prize. Miss Jessica Ayeley Quaye won the Augustus Bandele Oyediran Award for the Best Candidate in West Africa.

 In the WASSCE contest among candidates in Gambia, Ghana and Nigeria, the three female candidates from Ghana were outstanding in the examination taken by a total of 1,883,775 candidates in the May/June 2015 exam. Quaye is currently a 100-level student of the Ashesi University College, while Awadzi and Amo-Mensah are also 100-level students of the University of Ghana Medical School, studying medicine.

 Going down memory lane, the Republic of Ghana won the three prizes of the Excellence Awards and the Augustus Bandele Oyediran Award for four consecutive years (2012 – 2015). In 2014, it was an all-Ghana affair as 17-year-old Hasan Michailand, 18-year-old Kenyah Blaykyi and Archibald Enninful Henry, 18, won all the three awards.

The trio, beat over two million other candidates from Nigeria, Gambia, Sierra Leone and Liberia. Also in 2013, the trio of Miss Ivy Mannoh, Miss Rhoda Adu-Boafo and Master Mwinmaarong Dery from Ghana emerged 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively at the WAEC International Excellence Award. A total of 2,109,122 candidates sat for WAEC May/June, 2013 and the three Ghanaian students were the best.

 In 2012, the three Ghanaians honoured with the Excellence Award, were Miss Yvette Yeboah-Kordieh (1st), Master Josbert Abaasa Ayambire (2nd) and Master Bright Seyram Tsevi (3rd). They were the best among the 1,936,728 candidates who wrote the examination in The Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.

Statistics revealed that the top three positions were once dominated by Nigerians in the 80s and 90s but Ghanaians have stayed at the top since 2012. For a candidate to be eligible for the awards, he/she must go through three selection stages.

All candidates with a minimum of eight A1s are eligible. This is in line with the regulation which stipulates that for the award of a WASSCE certificate, a candidate should register for a minimum of eight subjects. In the case of candidates with nine subjects, their best eight subjects would be used. You would recall that WAEC in 1984, instituted two categories of awards: International Excellence/Merit and National Distinction/Merit Awards.

The former is to be competed for by candidates in more than one member country of the Council, while the latter is restricted to each of the five countries. The T-scores alone of the eligible candidates should be the basis for ranking of the candidates.

In the event of a tie, the T-scores of the candidates in their common subjects (English and Math) should be used. Where there is still a tie, the raw scores of the candidates in English and Math should be used. In case of a further tie, the T-scores of the best of the candidates’ remaining core subjects should be used. The three candidates with the highest scores at stage 2 are adjudged the winners.

Distinction Awards: To be eligible for Distinction Awards, a candidate must go through three selection stages: *All candidates who have the minimum of seven A1s should be eligible for consideration. *The T-scores alone of the eligible candidates should be the basis for ranking of the candidates.

 In the event of a tie, the T-scores of the candidates in English and Math should be used. Where there is still a tie, the raw scores of the candidates in English and Math should be used. In case of a further tie, the T-scores of the best of the candidates’ remaining core subjects should be used. *The three candidates with the highest scores at the stage 2 are adjudged the winners.