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CORPORATE PROFILE OF THE WEST AFRICAN EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL

CORPORATE PROFILE OF THE WEST AFRICAN EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL. MATTHEW P. NDURE REGISTRAR/ CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER. Background Information on WAEC. A non-profit-making organisation.

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CORPORATE PROFILE OF THE WEST AFRICAN EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL

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  1. CORPORATE PROFILE OF THE WEST AFRICAN EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL MATTHEW P. NDURE REGISTRAR/ CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

  2. Background Information on WAEC • A non-profit-making organisation. • The Governments of The Gambia, Ghana (then Gold Coast), Nigeria and Sierra Leone enacted the West African Examinations Council Ordinances in 1951. • Established in 1952. • Liberia became the fifth member of the Council in 1974.

  3. The Ordinances Establishing WAEC • Charged the Council with the task of determining the examinations required in the public interest in West Africa • Empowered it to conduct such examinations • and award certificates, provided that the certificates did not represent lower standards of attainment than equivalent certificates of examining authorities in the United Kingdom.

  4. The Convention Establishing WAEC • In March 1982, the Governments of the five member countries signed The Convention Establishing The West African Examinations Council. • The Convention came into force in August 1984. • The Convention gives the Council legal personality as an international body and provides a uniform legal backing to its operations in all the member countries. • A Headquarters Agreement signed with the Government of Ghana in 1987 gives certain concessions and privileges to the Council to facilitate the operations of its Headquarters in Accra, Ghana.

  5. WAEC’s Vision ‘’To be a world-class examining body, adding value to the educational goals of its numerous stakeholders.’’

  6. WAEC’S Mission “West Africa’s foremost examining board, developing and maintaining internationally- accepted procedures in its examinations, providing qualitative and reliable educational assessment, encouraging academic and moral excellence among the youth, and promoting sustainable human resource development, mutual understanding and international co-operation.”

  7. Strategies of Achieving WAEC’s Mission • Developing a team of well-trained and highly-motivated staff; • Developing and administering examinations that are both valid and relevant to the educational aspirations of member countries; • Awarding certificates that enjoy international recognition;

  8. Strategies of Achieving WAEC’s Mission (Contd.) • Promoting the ideals of hard work and honesty in the youth through the recognition and celebration of excellence; • Providing efficient and affordable service to its clientele through rational utilization of resources; • Being the beacon of international co-operation through the creation of a forum for dealing with issues of common interest.

  9. The Administrative Structure of the Council • The Chief Executive of the Council is the Registrar, who operates from the Council’s Headquarters in Accra. • A Head of National Office represents the Registrar in each country. • The Registrar’s Planning and Co-ordinating Committee, made up of the Registrar, the five Heads of National Office and the most senior management staff, is the highest administrative organ of the Council. • The offices of the Council are the Headquarters and the National Offices.

  10. Functions of the Headquarters • Co-ordinating the work of the National Offices and implementing the decisions of Council and its International Committees; • Co-ordinating such activities as syllabus and test development and research so as to ensure the maintenance of standards and uniformity of application of those standards in each member country; • Planning and executing general administrative and personnel policies of the Council in addition to providing other services as may from time to time be deemed necessary; • Providing internal audit services in the Council as a whole.

  11. Sources of funding of the Headquarters • All monies raised for the general purpose of the Council from member Governments; • All monies accruing to the Council either by way of grants in aid, endowment, donation etc; • Consultancy fees received by the Council; • Interest on investments.

  12. Functions of the National Office • Developing syllabuses and tests for its national examinations; • Planning, administering and processing of the various examinations held in the country; • Ensuring that the decisions of Council and its appropriate Committees are implemented in the country.

  13. Sources of Funding for the National Offices • Examination fees; • Government subvention; • Sale of Publications; • Interest on investments;

  14. Sources of Funding for the National Offices (Contd.) • Confirmation and interpretation of results; • Consultancy services; • Conduct of examinations on behalf of foreign examining bodies and other organizations.

  15. The Committee System of the Council • One of the greatest strengths of The West African Examinations Council is its Committee Structure, which provides for several international committees as well as strong national committees. • The Committee Structure makes it possible for each member country to participate fully at all levels in the work of the Council.

  16. The Committee System of the Council (Contd.) With the members of the various committees drawn largely from the teaching profession and from among educational administrators, the Council may be regarded as an authority on educational opinion.

  17. Council • Referred to as “Council”. The membership of Council is made up of a Chairman elected from among eminent citizens of the member countries; • A Vice Chairman elected from among the five (5) leaders (or Chief Government Nominees), of the national delegations who are usually the Chief Professional Officers of the Ministries of Education of the member countries;

  18. Council (contd.) • Other nominees of the Governments; and representatives of the Universities, Secondary Schools and the National Committees. • Council meets annually in the month of March in one of the member countries to review the activities of the organization during the year and to formulate policies for the succeeding year.

  19. Committees • Various committees have been established to deliberate on and oversee specific aspects of the operations of the organization and report to Council at its annual meeting. • These committees may be broadly classified into two: international and national.

  20. TheInternational Committees • Deliberate on matters affecting all member countries • Co-ordinate and harmonise national views in determining policies for the Council as a whole.

  21. The Steering Committee International Administrative and Finance Committee International Appointments Committee International Examinations Committee International Final Awards and Examiners’ Appointments Committee Research Sub-Committee of the International Examinations Committee The Board of Trustees of the WAEC Endowment Fund. TheInternational Committees (Contd.)

  22. The National Committees • Deal with matters relating mainly to their respective countries . • Serve as fora for the articulation of national views on issues affecting the policies of the Council as a whole.

  23. The National Committee (at the apex) Administrative and Finance Committee Appointments Committee Commercial Examinations Committee Aptitude Tests and Examinations Committee Tenders Board. The National Committees (Contd.)

  24. The National Committees (contd.) • The number of committees at the national level varies from country to country according to need. • In view of the federal political structure of Nigeria, there is also a State Committee in each State of the Federation including the Federal Capital Territory reporting directly to the Nigeria National Committee.

  25. THE COUNCIL’S PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES • Test development; • Test administration and processing of results; and • Educational research

  26. Test Development Activities • The development and revision of examination syllabuses. • The recruitment and training of examiners. • The development of tests . • The award of grades for Council’s examinations. • In executing these activities, internationally accepted procedures are followed to ensure the maintenance of standards.

  27. Test Administration and Processing of Results • The preparation of entry schedules. • Arrangements for oral and practical examinations. • Inspection of centres and distribution of examination materials.

  28. Test Administration and Processing of Results (Contd.) • Supervision and invigilation; • Coordination and subject award meetings; • Release of results and • Printing and issuing of certificates.

  29. Examinations Conducted by Council • International Examinations • National Examinations • Examinations Conducted On Behalf Of Other Examination Boards and Professional Bodies

  30. International Examinations • Defined as the examinations that are available to candidates in all member countries. • The Council used to conduct the General Certificate of Education (GCE) Advanced Level Examination and the Joint Examination for the School Certificate and G.C.E. Ordinary Level.

  31. International Examinations (Contd.) • As a result of the educational reforms in the member countries, the GCE examinations were phased out and replaced with The West African Senior School Certificate Examination. • The last GCE Advanced Level Examination was conducted in the 2000. • The Council offers no less than 66 subjects in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination.

  32. National Examinations • Available only to the candidates of the member country for which they are developed. • The National Examinations generally include Primary, Basic and Secondary School Certificate examinations, selection examinations for admission to Training Colleges and Technical Institutes, examinations for entry into the public services and private organisations, aptitude tests, promotion tests and terminal examinations in commercial and technical institutions.

  33. National Examinations (Contd.) Furthermore, conscious of the need to assist in developing a sound education in the sub-region and to meet the educational aspirations of member countries, the Council has been offering, in its Commercial and Technical Examinations, an increasing number of subjects adapted to reflect more closely the requirements of the sub-region.

  34. Examinations Conducted On Behalf Of Other Examination Boards and Professional Bodies The Council conducts a variety of examinations, mainly professional and technical, on behalf of other examining boards notably in the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

  35. Educational Research Activities • Investigating testing techniques and other educational matters; • Evaluating and improving operational methods, tests and other services; • Developing aptitude tests,

  36. Educational Research Activities (Contd.) • Monitoring the professional activities of the Council and assisting in the training of examiners. • Organising Monthly Seminars which are open to researchers from the Universities, Colleges of Education, Ministries of Education and others with educational interests.

  37. The Role of WAEC in the Development of Education in Anglophone West Africa The attainment of goals and objectives of educational programmes depends, to a large extent, on the appropriateness of the assessment schemes. WAEC therefore ensures that its examinations are valid and reliable.

  38. The Role of WAEC in the Development of Education in Anglophone West Africa (Contd.) Througha carefully worked out committee system that has evolved over the years, the Council maintains high standards in its examinations. In the process, the Council has developed the machinery for effective international co-operation, especially among teachers and educational authorities, and has succeeded in “bringing educational opinion and experience to bear upon the problems of examinations in such a way as to ensure that these problems will be solved in the way most conducive to the development of good education”

  39. The Role of WAEC in the Development of Education in Anglophone West Africa(Contd.) The mandate of WAEC bestows on it a very unique role in the provision of educational services in West Africa. It makes the Council the co-ordinating centre for determining standards in education at the pre-tertiary level in English-speaking West Africa.

  40. WAEC as an Autonomous International Board and an Agent At the National Level. • The West African Examinations Council has survived many challenges and even threats to its existence. Success in this area has been due to several reasons. • Perhaps the most important of these is that the Council has structures, local and international, which are flexible enough to accommodate the varying requirements and changing needs of its member countries. • Its committee system of decision-making is hinged on consensus building rather than dogmatism.

  41. WAEC as an Autonomous International Board and an Agent At the National Level. (contd.) Another factor has been the Council’s uniform governing legal instrument – the Convention. While preserving a high level of independence, WAEC endeavours to ensure that the views of member countries on any matter are fully considered and that the National Committees are given the opportunity to debate all relevant issues thoroughly, taking into account the peculiar circumstances of their countries before making recommendations to the International Committee.

  42. WAEC as an Autonomous International Board and an Agent At the National Level. (contd.) Another factor is that WAEC tries to be a watchdog of its own standards. On several occasions it has commissioned investigations into its own activities with the view to assessing its own standards and rectifying lapses, if any.

  43. WAEC as an Autonomous International Board and an Agent At the National Level. (contd.) • In 1981, the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation (CFTC) funded a project by which the International Centre for Education Evaluation (ICEE) of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, carried out an evaluation of WAEC standards. • The study focused on the SC/GCE ‘O’ and ‘A’ Level examinations to compare the Council’s standards with those of the London University’s GCE, Cambridge University’s GCE and the Joint Matriculations Board (N) GCE, and to ascertain the extent to which the WAEC examinations fulfilled the educational aspirations of member countries, thus helping in the achievements of each nation’s objectives.

  44. WAEC as an Autonomous International Board and an Agent At the National Level. (contd.) • WAEC has also made efforts at guiding policy at the sub-regional level. • In September 1988, WAEC organized an international conference on Educational Development and Policies in Anglophone West Africa at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria.

  45. WAEC as an Autonomous International Board and an Agent At the National Level. (contd.) • Some major outcomes of that conference were reforms which led to the adoption of the 6-3-3-4 system in member countries and the change from GCE to the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination. • In March 1996, the Annual WAEC Endowment Fund Lecture was inaugurated and since then the lecture is delivered on a theme on education by an eminent scholar of the member country hosting the Annual Council Meeting.

  46. WAEC as an Autonomous International Board and an Agent At the National Level. (contd.) But above all, it is the recognition that the Council has built an international reputation which no single member country doing it alone can rival that has kept the Council going.

  47. WAEC in Inter-Regional Cooperation • As the oldest Board in the English speaking developing • world, WAEC was a Model for setting up boards in: • East Africa • The Caribbean • Botswana • Lesotho • Malaysia • The South Pacific

  48. WAEC in Inter-Regional Cooperation • During its more than fifty years of existence, WAEC has not only successfully operated in its member countries in West African, but has also served as a forum for the exchange of ideas on educational assessment in the Commonwealth. • WAEC is a Primary member of the International Association for Educational Assessment (IAEA) and the Association for Educational Assessment in Africa (AEAA) and played a prominent role in the establishment of both organizations.

  49. CHALLENGES

  50. (1) Growth in the Number of Candidates WAEC has so far examined millions of candidates. Starting with a modest figure of 35,000 candidates throughout West Africa in 1955, the entry figure has increased over the years. By 1980 the total candidate entry had reached the one million mark.

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