Ghana achieved a remarkable feat on Tuesday by clinching all three top International Excellence Awards presented by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to recognize exceptional performance at the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
In an all-boys showcase, Ghanaian students ascended the podium in Freetown, Sierra Leone, to receive the prestigious awards during this year’s Council Meeting.
Among the three Ghanaian recipients of the prestigious awards, St. James Seminary once again stood out, securing two of the highest accolades at the 2023 WASSCE. Amo-Kodieh Leonard Kofi Marton, formerly of St. James Seminary Senior High School (SHS), emerged as the overall winner with an outstanding score of 623.5512. Following closely, Dzandu Selorm, formerly of Labone SHS and now a medical student at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), claimed the second position with a score of 623.1882. Another former student of St. James Seminary SHS, Daniel Asenso-Gyambibi, currently studying at Ashesi University, secured the third position with a score of 622.4438.
To qualify for an Excellent Award, candidates must attain grade A1 in at least eight subjects, including English, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Health Sciences, Integrated Science, and one subject category of the core subjects.
Dr. Eric Nkansah, the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service, commended the awardees for their exceptional achievement, remarking that they have elevated Ghana’s reputation on the international stage. He expressed pride in the consistent performance of Ghanaian students at the WASSCE, emphasizing that the country is evidently doing something right in its education system.
“We are proud of our students for their consistent performance at the WASSCE.
Last year, two out of the three were from Ghana, and this year, we are here again, and this time around, we are taking all three awards,” he said.
Dr. Nkansah attributed the outstanding performance to the dedication and sacrifices of Ghanaian teachers and school administrators, acknowledging their pivotal role in nurturing and guiding students towards academic excellence. He reiterated his appreciation for their continued efforts, which have yielded such remarkable results, affirming that the achievement is a testament to Ghana’s commitment to education excellence.
“To all teachers, I wish to say kudos to you all and the management of education, especially at the school level, I thank all of them for the yeoman’s job,” the Director-General said and urged them to continue to work harder for more awards.
He commended the management and teachers of St. James Seminary SHS for consistently producing award-winning students.
In a welcome address, the Chairman of the Council, Professor Ato Essuman, gave the assurance that the council was doing all it could to confront the menace of examination malpractice head-on.
“It gives us much worry when we hear of the persistent incidence of examination malpractice in public examinations because it represents a threat to public confidence in the credibility of the examination system,” Prof. Essuman said.
He, therefore, appealed to all member countries and governments to support WAEC’s crusade to eliminate, the threat, and called on all stakeholders to join hands to address the menace.
In a speech, Mr. Amo-Kodieh said he was “highly elated and deemed it a great honour and privilege to have been selected as the overall best student of the 2023 WASSCE.”
He said that in all his pursuit of academic excellence, he had consistently demonstrated dedication to pushing forward his intellectual boundaries, embracing new challenges, and actively participating in a dynamic learning environment.
Mr. Amo-Kodieh was grateful to the government and all stakeholders for the immense support “that has promoted this course of achievement to fruition.”
“We, the awardees, would like to reiterate our profound gratitude to the government, the GES, the Ministry of Education, the WAEC, and particularly our families for the role each of them played in our education,” he said.
