The West African Examinations Council (WAEC), has elected Ghana's Prof. Ato Essuman, as the 20th Chairman of the sub-regional organisation for a period of three years.

He succeeds Mr. Baboucarr Bouy from The Gambia, who was elected in March 2018.

A statement signed by Mr. Abiodun Aduloju, Head of Public Affairs, WAEC, and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra, said Prof. Ato Essuman would serve in that capacity from March 2021 to March 2024, in line with the Council's Convention.

The council also elected Prof.Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, as Vice-Chairman of Council, for one-year period March 2021 to March 2022.

The statement said the Council received the Registrar's Annual Report on the activities of the Headquarters and five National Offices, and ratified the decisions taken on its behalf by its committees in the preceding year.

It added that the Council also considered the action plans presented by the Headquarters and National Offices for their operations in the current year.

"Council called for more collaborative efforts by the stakeholders in education to stop all forms of examination fraud in the sub-region,'' the statement added.

The Council advocated the creation of a forum for regular interactions among the Ministers of Education of the member countries in view of the benefits of such collaborative platforms for the development of education, it said.

The Council also appreciated the students, teachers, schools, officials of the ministries of education, parents, security agencies, service providers and all other stakeholders who had contributed to the Council's successes and achievements over the years.

The meeting also featured the 26th in the series of Annual WAEC Endowment Fund Lectures titled, ''Treading on Slippery Ground: Calling Education to Account '',which was delivered by Prof. Kafui Etsey, of the Department of Education and Psychology, University of Cape Coast, Ghana.

At the formal opening of the meeting, three candidates, all from Ghana, were honoured with the WAEC International Excellence Award for their outstanding performance in WASSCE for School Candidates conducted in the year 2020.

They were Master Cecil Tetteh Kumah (first Prize), Master Godfred Aseda Obeng (second Prize) and Ms Afua Manukure Ansah (third Prize).

They were selected from a total of 2,122,844 candidates who sat the examination in the five member countries.

The Augustus Bandele Oyediran Award for the Best Candidate in West Africa also went to Master Cecil Tetteh Kumah.

On the same occasion, the prestigious award of Distinguished Friend of Council was conferred on an eminent citizen of Ghana - Dr. John Anum Sakey, former university lecturer and Chief Examiner-for his outstanding contribution to the success of the work of WAEC.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who opened the meeting expressed delight over the impressive performance of the first batch of beneficiaries of Ghana's Free Senior High School Policy and also decried the spate of examination malpractice in the sub-region and promised greater collaboration between his government and WAEC to curb the malaise and improve on the quality of education.