When did BECE Start In Ghana

When did BECE Start In Ghana

HISTORY

Introduction

The West African Examinations Council, a non-profit-making organization, with its head-quarters in Accra, Ghana, was established in 1952 after the Governments of Ghana (then Gold Coast), Nigeria, Sierra Leone and The Gambia enacted the West African Examinations Council Ordinances in 1951. Liberia became the fifth member of the Council in 1974.
The enactment of the Ordinances was based on the Jeffrey Report, which strongly supported the proposal for the setting up of a regional examining board to harmonize and standardize pre-university assessment procedures in the then British West Africa.
The main objectives of the Council are:

• To conduct examinations in the public interest
• To award certificates, provided that the certificates did not represent lower standards of attainment than equivalent certificates of examining authorities in the United Kingdom .

Convention Establishing the Council

The Council celebrated its 30th anniversary in March 1982 in Monrovia , Liberia during which the Convention establishing the WAEC was signed. The Convention was subsequently ratified by member Governments and came into force in August 1984.
The Council under the Convention was inaugurated in March 1985. The Convention now gives uniform legal backing to the operations of Council in all the member countries, makes provision for significant changes in the structure of the Council and gives it legal personality as an international body. A Headquarters Agreement signed with the Government of Ghana in 1987 confers certain privileges and immunities on Council’s Headquarters in Ghana. To take care of recent developments in the member countries, a process to revise the Convention was initiated at the turn of the century. The Revised Convention was signed in June 2003.
Structure of the Council
Part of the Council’s strength is its well-developed committee structure. WAEC’s committees and Council itself are made up of some of the best men and women in the various fields of human endeavour in the sub-region, particularly in education. There are about seventy committees working on various aspects of the Council’s activities at the local and international levels. These are in addition to the over 100 subject panels that operate from time to time to review developments in the different subject examinations. All these ensure that the operations of the Council are meticulously performed and they make the Council an authority on educational issues.