Thursday, November 19, 2009

Gentlemen of the media, we are delighted to welcome you to this interactive forum which is taking place at the Liberia National Office of the West African Examinations Council. You will recall that a similar forum was held about this time last year on issues of significance to education in Liberia. I thank you for your usual understanding and interest in the affairs of our organization and I commend you for portraying a high sense of responsibility in the practice of your profession. I want to assure you that WAEC will continue to partner with you, gentlemen of the media, whenever the need arises for us to get information across to the Liberian public.

The events of this week, which commenced on Sunday, November 15, 2009 and will end tomorrow, Friday, November 20, 2009, are of importance to stakeholders in education in Liberia. The main events of the week are the series of meetings of the Liberia Committees of the West African Examinations Council which were held in Monrovia and at which various decisions were taken for the growth and development of the education sector.

The Committees of Council that met during the period are the Liberia Aptitude Tests and Examinations Committee (LATEC), the Liberia Administrative and Finance (A & F) Committee and the Liberia National Committee which is the highest decision-making organ of the Council in Liberia. The members of the Council’s Committees are made up of Government nominees, representatives of the Ministry of Education, Universities, National Association of Liberia School Principals, and other interests. The Statutory Chairman of the Committees is the Chief Government Nominee of Liberia on Council, Honourable (Mrs.) Hester Williams-Catakaw.

Gentlemen of the media, LATEC, at its meeting on Monday, received reports on the examinations conducted in Liberia in the 2008/2009 reporting year. The poor performance of candidates in the examinations took the front burners during the discussions, and members urged school authorities and education administrators to ensure that all schools presenting candidates for public examinations acquired the appropriate examination syllabuses for adequate preparation and improved performance. They added that the Ministry of Education, through its appropriate departments, as well as other relevant agencies should intensify the inspection/monitoring of schools to ensure strict adherence to the teaching curriculum provided by the government for the complete education of the Liberian child.

The Committee noted with concern that no candidate in Liberia qualified in 2008 for consideration for the International Excellence Award or the National Distinction/Merit Award which WAEC gives annually in actualisation of one of the objects of its Endowment Fund. The Committee therefore urged the government, education administrators, parents and patriotic citizens of Liberia to take up the challenge and adopt workable strategies to raise the level of academic attainment in schools in the years ahead.

The Committee however, observed with delight that no incidence of malpractice was reported in the November/December 2008 series of examinations in Liberia. It urged the Ministry of Education and WAEC to intensify public sensitization efforts on the rules and regulations governing the conduct of public examinations so as to guide schools and candidates against the perpetration of examination malpractice.