Five former students of Wesley Girls’ High School yesterday bagged seven out of nine awards for best performance in the 2019 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for school candidates in Ghana.

Melisa Abena Okyerewaa Amoah, currently studying medicine at the University of Ghana (UG), won the ultimate award in addition to the Best Candidate in General Science.

She took home $1,200, other cash prizes from the West African Examination Council (WAEC), and scholarship covering tuition, accommodation and books from the Universal Merchant Bank (UMB).

Nana Adwoa Agyemang Sereboo, a Student of the Ashesi University, the second best candidate was also the best in the Business Programme, while Ewurabena Esiboaba Cudjoe, a medical student of the UG placed third.

At the WAEC distinction awards held in Accra and attended by elated parents, educationists and students, Barbara Afenyo and Antoinette Mensah were declared the best candidates in Home Economics and Visual Arts respectively.

This is the sixth time the Cape Coast-based ‘Wey Gey Hey’ has won the ultimate award and umpteenth time it has dominated same since the WASSCE was changed from Senior Secondary School Examination (SSCE) in 2006.

Amongst the girls dominated awards were two males; Chief Kwamena Katu from Mfantsipim School and Caleb Smith from Achimota School who won best candidates in Technical and General Arts programmes respectively.

All award winners received cash prizes and laptop computers while their alma maters took back to campus plaques for setting the stage for the outstanding performance by the students.

The overall winner and the 1st runner up are to be named the second and third best amongst almost two million candidates from five WAEC member countries who sat for the 2019 WASSCE, at a ceremony in Monrovia soon.

Earlier in an address, the Minister of State in charge of Tertiary Education, Professor Kwesi Yankah noted improvements in last year’s results especially in Maths and Science.

He said the 64. 23 passes (grades A1 to C6) in Core Mathematics and 62.94 per cent in Integrated Science were the highest in the history of WASSCE and should engender some optimism this year when the first batch of the Free Senior High School (SHS) candidates sits for the examination.

“Even though candidates for the 2019 WASSCE started school a year before the Free SHS policy, they were beneficiaries of some of the government interventions that were cross cutting,” he said and urged the 2020 candidates to work hard and justify government’s investments in them.

The WAEC National Office Head, Mrs Wendy Addy Lamptey disclosed that out of 346,091 candidates from 987 schools that sat for the examination, 150 obtained eight A1s as against 66 in 2018 with general improvements in all core subjects.

She congratulated winners for their performance and cautioned all stakeholders against examination malpractices, saying the WAEC would not compromise on the integrity of the examination.