Ghanaian Candidates Sweep the International Excellence Awards for WASSCE 2020
Three Ghanaian candidates have swept the International Excellence Awards for the WASSCE for School Candidates, 2020. The examination was written by over two million candidates from the five member countries. At the (virtual) Opening Ceremony for the 69th Annual Council Meeting held in Accra, Mr. Cecil Tetteh Kumah, formerly of Mfantsipim Senior High School, received the 1st prize of $1,500. He had a T-score of 650.1328. Cecil Kumah is currently with the Columbia University in the USA studying Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science. Mr. Kumah also received a cheque of $1,500 for being adjudged the Best Candidate in West Africa.
The second prize of $1,200 went to Mr Godfred Aseda Obeng from Hope College, Gomoa Fete. He obtained a T-score of 625.6953. Godfred Obeng is currently with the University of Ghana studying medicine and surgery.
Miss Afua Manukure Ansah, a former student of Achimota School, received the third prize of $900 with a T-score of 624.640. Ms. Afua Ansah is currently at the Cornell University studying Electrical and Computer Engineering.
His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the Minister of Education, Hon. Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum and the Chief Government Nominee for Ghana, Prof. Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa congratulated the awardees for their outstanding performances and also for lifting the flags of their schools as well as that of the nation, high.
The International Excellence Awards was instituted in 1985 to honour candidates with outstanding performance in the Council’s Senior High School Certificate examinations. Originally, the awards were based on the results of the School Candidates’ (May/June) SC/GCE ‘O’ Level (International) examination. With the phasing out of the SC/GCE examinations and their replacement in 1998 by WASSCE, the Awards are now based on the results of the School Candidates’ version of WASSCE.
For the WASSCE (SC) 2020, 411 out of the 375,761 candidates who sat the examination in Ghana and 54 out of the 1,538,445 candidates who sat the examination in Nigeria, making a total of 465 were considered eligible for the awards. In 2019, 220 candidates — 1 from The Gambia, 150 from Ghana and 69 from Nigeria, qualified for the award.
