The Minister for Education, Dr. Osei Yaw Adutwum, has commended the three overall best students of the 2023 West African Secondary School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) in his office.

Amo-Kodieh Leonard Kofi Marton from the St James Seminary Senior High School came first, Dzandu Selorm from Labone Senior High School placed second and Daniel Asenso-Gyambibi also from St James Seminary placed third.

The three were honoured at the 72nd Annual WAEC Council Meeting as the best three (3) out of the 2,327,342 students from the five-member countries who sat for the 2023 WASSCE.

The minister commended the students when the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Dr Eric Nkansah, led the students to pay a courtesy call on the Minister.

He congratulated the students for making Ghana proud and implored them to excel in their various fields of study at the tertiary level.

Dr. Adutwum also urged them to use the awards as a springboard to win many more laurels for themselves, their families and the country at large.

He added that “Life is a journey, you begin today, you work hard and by the time you realise you are up there.”

He recommended two books to the award winners: “Ten Thousand Hour Rule” and the “Heroes Journey” by Joseph Campbell. “Apart from the Bible, let these books guide you and you will climb to become the best in the world,” he counselled them.

The three award winners appreciated the minister for the warm reception accorded them,  and assured him of their continuous commitment to academic excellence.

On Tuesday, 19th March 2024, in Freetown, Sierra Leone, the three - Amo-Kodieh Leonard Kofi Marton (St James Seminary Senior High School), Dzandu Selorm (Labone Senior High School) and Daniel Asenso-Gyambibi (St James Seminary) - were awarded at the 72nd Annual WAEC Council Meeting as the best three out of the 2,327,342 students from the five member countries who sat for the WASSCE 2023.

For the first prize, the overall best student took home $1,500, the second-placed winner received $1,200 and the third-prize winner received $900 from the WAEC Endowment Fund.

Currently, Masters Amo-Kodieh and Mr Dzandu are reading Medicine at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology while Mr Asenso-Gyambibi is a Computer Engineering student at the Ashesi University.

The International Excellence Awards for WASCCE for School Candidates are presented to the three overall best candidates from the member countries that subscribe to the WASSCE, namely Ghana, the Gambia, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.

Representing Ghana at the awards ceremony were council members of WAEC, led by the Chief Government nominee, who is also the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Dr Eric Nkansah; Ghana’s Non-Council Member on the Board of Trustees of the WAEC Endowment Fund, Nana Appiagyei Dankawoso I; the Chief Director of the Ministry of Education, Mrs Mamle Andrews; the Head of National Office (HNO), Wendy Enyonam Addy-Lamptey, and all the other members.

The International Excellence Awards was instituted in 1985 to reward and celebrate candidates with outstanding performances in the Council’s Senior High School Certificate examinations.