Ghanaian Prof Essuman elected to chair WAEC board

Professor Ato Essuman has been elected the 20th Chairman of the governing board of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) for a three-year tenure.

Prof Essuman was elected at the just ended 69th Annual Meeting held online from Monday, March 22 to Friday, March 26.

The Ghanaian professor will chair the board from March 2021 to March 2024 in line with the Council’s Convention.

He succeeds The Gambia’s Baboucarr Bouy, who was elected in 2018.

Before the Meeting, three Ghanaian students, who came out overall tops in the 2020 West African Senior Schools Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) were honoured.

Coincidentally, the Meeting was opened by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

In his keynote address, President Akufo-Addo described WAEC as a dominant institution in the West African sub-region which had consistently produced leaders in various fields of endeavour and a workforce to drive the economy.

He commended WAEC for regularly generating reports and statistics to guide the member countries in policy formulation and implementation.

He also congratulated the Council on the successful execution of its mandate in 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

The President expressed delight over the impressive performance of the first batch of beneficiaries of his government’s Free Senior High School Policy who sat WASSCE for School Candidates in the year 2020.

He decried the spate of examination malpractice in the sub-region and promised greater collaboration between his government and WAEC to curb the malaise and further improve on the quality of education in Ghana.