Three Ghanaian students excel in 2014 WASSCE
Ghana has once again swept all the prestigious prizes at stake in the West African Examinations Council’s (WAEC’s) International Excellence Award for candidates in the May/June 2014 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
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The feat is the fifth in succession.
Seventeen-year-old Master Mickail Hasan, formerly of Ghana Sec/Tech School, Takoradi, emerged as the overall best candidate in Ghana. He also topped all the candidates who wrote the WASSCE in West Africa.
In addition, Master Hasan emerged as the best candidate in the General Science Programme.
A former student of St Augustine’s College, Master Blaykyi Kenyah, was the overall second best both in Ghana and in West Africa, while Master Henry Archibald Enninful, formerly of Mfantsipim School, was adjudged the overall third best candidate both in Ghana and West Africa.
Prizes
The three candidates will receive their prizes at the International Excellence Awards event in Abuja, Nigeria on March 24, 2015.
However, for emerging as the overall best in Ghana, Master Hasan has received the cedi equivalent of $1,000, a certificate and a citation, while his former school received a plaque. For being the best in the General Science Programme, Master Hasan also received the cedi equivalent of $400, a certificate and a citation, while his former school received a plaque.
Master Hasan also became the proud recipient of a full scholarship for his university education from the Universal Merchant Bank.
Master Hasan had been at home because his parents could not finance his university education.
Master Kenyah, who placed second at the country level, received the cedi equivalent of $750 from WAEC, a certificate and a citation, while his former school received a plaque.
He also received GH¢2,000 from the First Banc Financial Services, which sponsored the overall second best award.
For his part, Master Enninful took away the cedi equivalent of $500, a certificate and a citation, while his former school received a plaque. He also received GH¢1,000 from Enterprise Insurance Ltd for placing third.
Master Elvis Okoh-Asirifi, a former student of Opoku Ware SHS, and Miss Deborah N.A. Atuabea Attuah, formerly of Wesley Girls High School, emerged the best candidates in the Business and General Arts programmes, respectively.
They each received the cedi equivalent of $400, a certificate and a citation, while their former schools received a plaque each.
Criterion
Giving the legibility criterion, the Head of National Office of WAEC, Very Rev Sam Nii Nmai Ollennu, said a candidate must obtain a minimum of eight Grade “A1s” to qualify.
He said candidates who qualified for the awards competed at both the national and international levels.
“The candidates we are honouring today competed with their counterparts in the other WAEC member countries,” he said, adding that owing to the Ebola outbreak and change in educational system in Liberia and Sierra Leone respectively, the two could not take part in the 2014 WASSCE.
Commendation
In a brief address at the ceremony, the acting Director General of the Ghana Education Service, Mr Jacob A. M. Kor, advised the awardees not to slide back but continue to show that Ghana was a star in the world.
The Chief Director of the Ministry of Education, Mr Enoch Kobbinah, in congratulating the awardees, said the performance of the Ghanaian candidates in the WASSCE over the past five years was an indication that the country’s educational system was the best in the sub-region.
The Registrar of WAEC, Dr Iyi Uwadiae, commended the awardees for excelling in the examination and commended managers of education for the good performance of the awardees.
He explained that the winners were not just selected for the international excellence award because they were the best three candidates in Ghana, “but they had to meet a minimum requirement” as well.
