WAEC honours students for excellence Daily Graphic March 15, 2013

Three students have received the 2012 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) Distinction Awards at the national and International levels.
The students, Yvette Yeboah-Kordiah, who schooled at the Wesley Girls Senior High School, Master Ayambire Josbert Abaasah of the Notre Dame Seminary SHS and Master Tsevi Bright Seyram of the Keta Senior High School took the first, second and third positions respectively.
Ms Yeboah-Kordiah, who is reading Medicine at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, received $550, a certificate and plaque for her alma mata, while Master Abaasah, who is also studying Medicine at the University of Ghana and Master Seyram at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, studying electrical engineering, received  $250 and $200 respectively and plaque for their alma mater.
Also, six other students who attained distinctions at their various subjects of speciality received certificates, $250 and a plaque each for their alma mata.
The six were Ms Ewurama Smith-Quayson from the Wesley Girls SHS, Ms Belinda Ofori from Wesley Girls, Master Godfred Owusu from Koforidua Technical School, Master Adams Abdulai Aziz from Navrongo Senior High School, Ms Sandra Frempong from Holy Child Senior High School and Michael Larbi Siaw of the Presbyterian Boys Senior High School, Legon.
The 2012 WASSCE Distinction Awards ceremony on sponsored by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) Endowment Fund.
The Head of the National West African Examinations Council (WAEC,) Very Rev. Sam Nii Nmai Ollennu said 530 students out of 174,385 candidates obtain grade ‘A1’s.
He described the results as “huge improvement” and “unprecedented” as compared to the 2011 where 84 candidates satisfied the eligibility criterion.
“An analysis of the May/ June 2012 WASSCE indicates that candidates performed much better than 2011” he said.
Very Rev. Ollennu added that it was the first time in the history of the awards that candidates who offered Agriculture, Visual Arts, Technical and Home Economics programmes satisfied the eligibility criterion.
However, he said the chief examiners identified some hitches that resulted in the poor performance of some candidates.
They included the lack of answering skills and understanding of questions, inadequate preparation, illegible handwriting and poor application of technical terms, and inability to link theory with practicals.  
During the 2012 exam, 3,217 candidates got their results cancelled, 90 candidates results got lost,while 132 entries of candidates were cancelled because they were not bona fide candidates of the schools which registered them for the examination.
To curb exam malpractices, Very Rev. Ollennu said the council had resolved to intensify its sensitisation programmes and sustain other interventions.
On his part, the Director General of the Ministry of Education, Mr Enoch H. Cobbinah, urged candidates and heads of schools to start preparations towards the 2013 WASSCE examination.
He also urged heads of schools, invigilators and supervisors to be vigilant to avoid exams malpractices and ensure smooth examinations this year, adding that there is the need to protect the integrity of WASSCE.
He pledged government’s support to the council to ensure smooth examination and also to work hand in hand with stakeholders to ensure an improvement in the results.
The awardees expressed gratitude to teachers and parents for contributing to their success and encouraged candidates for the 2013 to work hard to achieve a success story.