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THE CHALLENGES OF ENSURING QUALITY ASSURANCE IN ASSESSMENT IN MULTICULTURAL CONTEXTS: THE CASE OF THE WEST AFRICAN EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) was established in 1952 by an ordinance in order to bring educational assessment close to the grassroot and was charged with the responsibility of determining the examinations required in the best interest of West Africa. By this ordinance, the Council was empowered to conduct such examinations and award certificates which should not represent a lower standard of attainment than equivalent certificates of examining authority internationally. The mandate was hinged on the principles of: Best Practices, Accountability, Access, Equity, Trust, Confidence and Quality Assurance. Quality assurance was identified as a fundamental tool for building institutional reputation in multicultural contexts and an indispensable foundation to protect the integrity of the assessment system.This paper therefore discusses how the WAEC established since 1952 has been able to surmount the challenges attendant upon assessment in multicultural contexts and ensuring that standards are maintained through the instrumentality of quality assurance mechanisms.The paper concludes with recommendations on how to effectively institutionalize quality assurance ,frameworks in the assessment system to guarantee standards.

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