WAEC Names Top Schools,Students
Kelezee Koiwu of Firestone Senior High School,
Margibi County, is considered the best
performing candidate in Liberia for WAEC 2016
In spite of the nearly 30,000 unsuccessful
candidates reported by the West African
Examination Council (WAEC) this year, not all
is doom. In fact, according to WAEC, there
appear to be an elite number of high schools
and students that have performed
comprehensively well, according to
John Gayvolor, head of WAEC-Liberia office
on Thursday.
‘Top 35’ Schools
Early results released by WAEC show a list of
35 high schools with a “100 percent pass
rate.” In order words, every student from
these 35 schools who sat the WAEC for 2016
made a successful pass. Notable among them
are Ricks Institute and Firestone High School
– both high-performers in WAEC annually.
However, it is rather promising to see that
some of the remotest schools – Buutuo High
School and Karnplay Inland Academy – both in
Nimba County, made the list of 35. The
students from these schools are 1,241 in all,
out of the national total of 16,072 successful
candidates.
The 35 schools include St. Teresa’s Convent
High School; George E. Simmonds High School;
Levi C. Williams High School; Child Development
Academy; Lutheran Training Institute; Ricks
Institute; Bromley Mission School; James Kin
Freeman High School; Pentecostal Assembly
High School; Nowai Larteh Senior High School;
Rock International Christian Academy; George
T. Washington Christian Institute; Carr’s High
School; Virginia Christian Academy; Richard C.
Hunter School System; Christian Martyrs High
School; Daniel Hoover Village Boarding School;
Bishop
Matthew Norwood United; Caldwell Christian
Academy; Jaycal Institute Foundation
Learning; Zion Praise Academy; Sandra
Mcinturff Mission School; Maretha
International Preparatory School; Esther B.
Davis High School; Drims School System;
Greater Outreach Christian Academy; Mother
Victoria Thomas Orphanage School; Herbert
Brewer Community School Of Excellence;
Mother Esther Nyemah High School; Royal
Academy Christian School System; Best Brains
Academy; Montserrado Technical Institute;
Buutuo High School; Toweh Memorial High
School; and Karnplay Inland Academy.
‘Top 10’ Students
Gayvolor went on to name ten students, who
achieved test scores in the Division II rank.
These students include Duozon R. Gaye from
the Soltiamon Christian School System,
Margibi County; Jerru Kou Kulah of the
Soltiamon Christian School System,
Montserrado County; Miriam Katta of the
Liberian-Turkish Light International School,
Montserrado County; Alpha G. Peters of Bassa
High School, Grand Bassa County; Saraphen B.
Dahn, Elijah Fineboy, Kelezee Koiwu, and
Zayzay Wolobah of Firestone Senior High
School, Margibi County; Jallah A. Barbu, II of
Ricks Institute,
Montserrado County; and Jeremiah J. Kekula
of William Booth High School, Montserrado
County.
Firestone Senior High School and Ricks
Institute are the only two on the list of ‘top
35 schools’ to also have students ranking in
the ‘top 10’ – Division II of WAEC 2016. The
two schools have and continue to rank higher
in the WAEC exams among other schools in
Liberia, producing many high-performance
students.
‘Best Student’
According to Mr. Gayvolor, Kezelee Koiwu of
Firestone Senior High School, Margibi County
is considered the best performing candidate
for the May 2016 Liberia Senior High School
Certificate Examination (LSHSCE). He said
Koiwu obtained seven credits and has a T-
Score of 516.8, which he scored 6*in English,
3* in Economics, 6*in Geography, 4*in
History, 6 in Literature-in-English, 3* in
Mathematics and 5* in Chemistry, reaping an
aggregate 27 in the best of six subjects.
Koiwu’s achievement of passing marks in this
variety of subjects may be laudable among
his 46,927 peers in Liberia. However,
education pundits see his test scores as a
microcosm of both the students’ potential and
the dire need for improvement of the nation’s
education system.
“There is more to be desired in the context of
the regional standard, in the WAEC regime,”
an expert who preferred not to be named,
said. “Four of his best six subjects scored in
the lower level of the grading scale; his best
two subjects were right at the middle line.
And if indeed, according to the WAEC boss,
Koiwu is the best performing student of the
34% of students who passed this year’s
exams,” the source said, “then the quality of
his performance is the sum of efforts not
entirely his own, but those of the Liberian
education system, the schools he has
attended, the teachers he has learned under,
his family, church, community, his friends and
role models. And that means we all have a lot
more ground to cover.”
“These May 2016 LSHSCE results produced ten
candidates comprising seven males and three
females within division II,” Gayvolor said. “We
are delighted at their performance and want
to encourage other schools to follow same.”
