Three top International Excellence Awards instituted by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) have been won by Ghana.
The coveted awards were to recognise candidates with outstanding performance at the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
During the WAEC Council Meeting held last Tuesday in Freetown, Sierra Leone, three Ghanaian students from St. James Seminary Senior High School (SHS) and Labone SHS outperformed all other candidates from the council’s five member countries.
The Sunyani-based Catholic school picked two of the topmost awards of the 2023 WASSCE written by a total of 2,327,342 candidates from the member countries of WAEC, while the Labone SHS the remaining one.
The awardees are Leonard Kofi Marton Amo-Kodieh (St James Seminary), Dzandu Selorm (Labone SHS), and Daniel Asenso-Gyambibi (St. James Seminary).
Leonard Kofi Marton Amo-Kodieh, who is studying Medicine at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), was adjudged the overall winner after scoring 623.5512 points.
Selorm Dzandu, a medical student at KNUST, finished second with a score of 623.1882, while Daniel Asenso-Gyambibi, a student at Ashesi University, came in third with a score of 622.4438.
To be considered for an Excellence Award, a candidate must get a grade of A1 in at least eight subjects, including English, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Health Sciences, and Integrated Science, as well as A1 in one of the core subjects.
Dr. Eric Nkansah, Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), praised the winners for flying the Ghana flag high on such an international platform.
“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 round, we are taking all the three awards,” he said.
Dr. Nkansah described the students’ achievement as a source of pride for the GES and the country as a whole, saying it showed that, “We are doing something right.”
He commended Ghanaian teachers and their heads of schools for their continuous efforts, which are yielding positive results.
“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 praised the management and staff at St James Seminary SHS for regularly producing award-winning students.
By Ernest Kofi Adu