Dr Iyi Uwadiae. Vanguard Photo

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) says it is planning to introduce an additional diet of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for private candidates.

The Registrar of Council, Dr Iyi Uwadiae, said this on the occasion of the 64th WAEC Day celebration on Wednesday in Lagos.

The day is usually set aside yearly by member countries to commemorate the establishment of the council by staff and friends of the council.

He, however, did not state when the additional diet of the examination would begin.

The council was established on March 16, 1952.

According to Uwadiae, the introduction of the additional diet will give prospective candidates access to the examination all year round.

He said that capacity building and tools acquisition for staff would be geared toward optimising performance and minimising the council’s dependence on outsiders for certain high security operations.

The registrar also said that the various ICT-based initiatives aimed at combating examination malpractices, more effectively and efficiently, would be replicated across the sub-region.

“The council has continued to celebrate excellence, reward hard work and acknowledge outstanding contributions to the development of education in the sub-region.

“In the face of daunting challenges in 2015, the council took bold steps to improve on its service delivery in all the member countries.

“The change of nomenclatures for the two diets of the council’s international examination, WASSCE for School Candidates and WASSCE for Private Candidates, has eliminated the conflict that existed between the name and the actual timing of each diet.

“The conflict existed when the diets were still known as May/June WASSCE and November/December WASSCE respectively,’’ he said.

Uwadiae also spoke about irregularities which were reported during in the council’s examinations in all the member countries in 2015.

WAEC is jointly owned by the five English-speaking West African Countries of Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Gambia.

In his address, the Head of the National Office, Mr Olu Adenipekun, said that the council had enjoyed the support and cooperation of governments of its member countries and other stakeholders in the education sector.

He said that it was the collective responsibilities and obligation of the stakeholders to ensure that WAEC remained a cutting-edge organisation for which it had been reputed.

Adenipekun urged the staff to continue to uphold the core values of excellence, professionalism, transparency and integrity.

NAN reports that the two executive officers of the council were both represented by the Head of Test Administration, Mrs Frances Iweha-Onukwu.