President Muhammadu Buhari will on March 14 declare open the ceremony preceding the 70th Annual Council Meeting of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) in Abuja.
The conference lecture will be delivered by an eminent scholar from the Educational Foundation Department of the University of Lagos, Professor Ngozi Azuka Osarenren.
The Head of National Office, WAEC, Nigeria, Mr. Patrick Areghan, disclosed this during a pre-conference press briefing held in Lagos on March 7, 2022.
According to Areghan, the conference will hold in the Congress Hall, Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, from March 14 to 18, 2022.
“The Annual Council Meeting of the WAEC is rotated amongst the Five Member Countries. The last time the Nigeria National Office hosted the meeting was in 2017, which was the 65th meeting,” Areghan said.
The Council, according to Areghan, is the highest policy-making body of the West African Examinations Council, with its membership drawn from the five countries.
He said: “Membership of Council includes government nominees, representatives of universities, Conference of Principals of Secondary Schools, and other interest groups. It meets annually to review the activities and operations of its various committees and national offices in the five member countries.
“At its annual meeting, Council ratifies the decisions taken on its behalf by the designated committees the previous year, and deliberates on action plans for the successful execution of its operations and activities in the coming year.
“The Annual Council Meeting is held on a rotational basis among the five member countries and it deliberates on: providing qualitative and reliable educational assessment; encouraging academic and morale excellence; promoting sustainable human resource development and promoting international cooperation among the five member countries.
“The Annual Council Meeting also affords the host country a rare opportunity to interact with stakeholders in the education sector, member of the diplomatic corp, as well as opportunity to showcase its economic, cultural and tourism potentials.
“It is a big media event, which communicates to the public and the international community, the policy thrust of the government of the host country on education matters.
“The West African Examinations Council received a tripartite mandate at its inception in 1952. It was mandated to determine the examinations required in the public interest in the Anglophone West African countries, to conduct such examinations and to award certificates of international standard to deserving candidates in the examinations.
“In the course of performing its functions, the Council also assists in the development of sound education, ensures that educational standards are maintained and gives the people of the sub-region, a vision of the great potential that lies beyond examinations. No doubt, WAEC has creditably executed its functions by successfully meeting the educational aspirations of its teeming clientele across the sub-region for Seventy (70) years now!
“The success of the West African Examinations Council is hinged on the support it receives from the government of the five member countries, especially the Nigeria National Office, which holds a lot for the impressive score card that it flaunts in the comity of Educational Assessment Institutions. WAEC owes a lot of gratitude to the governments and good people of its member nations.
“I therefore, wish to use the opportunity provided by this occasion to express appreciation to all stakeholders in the education sector, for the huge amounts of funding, human and material resources, which have gone into the Council’s operations and activities in the past 70 years.
“During the formal opening ceremony, awards will be presented to the winners of the International Excellence and National Distinction/Merit Awards.
The Omo N’ Oba Erediauwa Coronation Awards will be presented to the best male and best female candidates while the Augustus Bandel Oyediran Trophy Award will be presented to the school with the best aggregate result in WASSCE for school candidates 2021”.
Areghan appealed for greater cooperation, support, encouragement and goodwill from all stakeholders in order to give the Council assurances of further successes, achievements and continued existence in the years ahead.