Liberian Students Starts Sitting West African Examinations

About 10,500 12th graders of the Liberia School System will this Monday start sitting the Liberian senior High School Certificate Examinations while 11,650 9th graders will sit the exams next Monday.

The Liberia Senior and Junior High School Certificate Examinations are both administered annually to candidates at the 12th and 9th grade levels by the Monrovia national office of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC).

According to the head of WAEC Monrovia national office, Mr. Eli M. Lumei, candidates at 12th grade level will sit for the exams from May 5th thru’ 9th while the 9th grade examinations will run from 12th to 13th of the same month.

Montserrado County accounts for 80 percent of the total registered candidates at both levels while the rest percent account for the other counties.

However, WAEC said due to the prevailing condition in the country, the examinations will be administered in Montserrado, Grand Bassa and Margibi counties, as well as parts of Bong County.

That is, some adjustments have been made in examination centers to afford all registered candidates the opportunity to sit the exams, according to the WAEC national office.

The exams council is therefore, calling on candidates from Bong, Nimba, Grand Cape Mount, Maryland, Grand Gedeh, Grand Kru, River Gee and Sinoe counties who are now displaced in Monrovia, that the newly erected commencement platform on the main campus of the University of Liberia will be used as an examination center for displaced candidates.

The office is calling on all candidates of 12th and 9th grade levels who would not register due to the prevailing situation in the country to report at the Capital Hill main campus of the University of Liberia, with two passport size photos and exams fees to enable them sit the exams.

Besides, the national office said it has also created several other emergency centers to serve both regular and displaced candidates at both levels.

The centers include the Town Hall in Salala, Bong County; St. Augustine High School, Kakata City, Margibi County; St. Peter Clavier High School, Buchanan City, Grand Bassa County, and the Harbel Field-house, Harbel, Margibi County.

The exams council is reiterating its appeal to all Liberians and friends of Liberia to create a conducive atmosphere for the smooth administration of the exams.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the West African Examinations Council, Dr. Frederick S. Gbegbe, having served the Council for three(3) years and handed over the Chairmanship to a Gambian, Mr. Alieu Ousman Ndow at the end of the 51st Annual Meeting of the Council held in Banjul, The Gambian, recently.

Dr. Gbegbe is the first Liberian to serve in that highest position of the Council since its establishment in 1952. He succeeded Dr. Yahaya Hamza of Nigeria. Dr. Gbegbe was elected at the 48th Annual Meeting of the Council held in Monrovia in March, 2000.

Minister Peter N. Ben, Chief Government Nominee of Liberia to the West African Examinations Council/Deputy Minister of Education for Instruction who headed the Liberian delegation to the 51st Annual Council Meeting and members of the Liberia National Committee take this opportunity to commend Dr. Gbegbe for his astute leadership and far-sightedness in not only bringing pride to Liberia but also steering the affairs of the Council professionally in the midst of breath-taking challenges.

Minister Ben and members of the committee proudly congratulate Dr. Gbegbe for the tremendous successes and achievements of the Council under his leadership.

The achievements of the Council during the tenure of Dr. Gbegbe are, but not limited to the ratification of the structure of the Council; the resolution of the crisis resulting from the establishment of National Examination Council (NECO) in Nigeria and the breaking of grounds for the construction of an office complex for WAEC in Liberia.

At the end of the 51st Annual Council Meeting a noted Liberian career educator and a God-fearing leader, Rev. Dr. Jeremiah W. Walker was honoured as “Distinguished Friend of Council, the second Liberian after Archbishop Michael K. Francis of the Catholic Church of Liberia.

The Secretariat of the Monrovia National Office of the West African Examinations Council pins the Liberia National Committee in congratulating Dr. Gbegbe for successfully guiding the vision and image of the council, the longest surviving and successful sub-regional educational organization in English-speaking West Africa, for promoting “Excellence” in the field of education.