The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has said it will never award any secondary school with a case of malpractice in school-based May/June West African Senior School Certificate Examination(WASSCE) its annual $5,000 book prize.
Mr Godwin Uzoigwe, a member of the Board of Trustees, WAEC Endowment Fund Book Prize, stated this at the recent 61st Annual Meeting of the Nigeria National Committee (NNC) of WAEC held in Lafia, Nasarawa State capital.
NNC is the highest policy-making organ for WAEC Nigeria and consists of the nominees of the Federal Government, various state governments, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), principals of secondary schools, universities, polytechnics and other stakehold. Members holding an annual meeting on a rotational basis across states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Uzoigwe explained that the annual book prize worth $5,000 and instituted some years back for the top three schools with best aggregate results in WASSCE in the state is to reward excellence and promote healthy competition, good moral and integrity among schools nationwide .
He said WAEC believed that the three Nasarawa schools that won the award this year, including Gradams Faith Academy, Masaka, (first position), God’s Grace International Academy, Ado-Karo (second position) and Government Secondary School, Awogenshen (third position), would make good use of the books, were presented to them at the event.
Speaking separately at the event, the federal and Nasarawa State governments commended WAEC for its various strides in the conduct of credible examinations and contribution to education development in the country.
They said the impact of WAEC in students’ performance assessment and education development generally was unquantifiable.
The governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Sule, represented at the event by the state’s Commissioner for Education, Dr John Mamman, said WAEC had, over the decades, been imparting values to Nigerian children, commending its efforts to stem the tide of examination malpractice in the country.
He asked the NNC and WAEC not to rest on their oars in evolving more strategies to move the organisation forward.
On his part, the head of National Office of WAEC Nigeria, Dr Amos Dangut, said that “WAEC frowns on examination malpractice and will continue to fight till it is completely eradicated or reduced to the barest minimum in the country.”
Dangut thanked the government and people of Nasarawa State for hosting this year’s NNC meeting and also commended them for their contributions to education development in the state and Nigeria by extension.
He urged the state not to relent, saying “provision of good education is a veritable way to meaningful growth and development of any society.”
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