West African Examination Council

History

The University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate, the University of London School Examinations Matriculation Council, and West African Departments of Education met in 1948 concerning education in West Africa. They appointed Dr. George Barker Jeffery (Director of the University Of London Institute Of Education) to visit some West African countries so as to see the general education level and requirements in West Africa. At the end of Jeffery's three-month visit (December 1949–March 1950) to Ghana, the Gambia, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria, he tendered a report (since known as the Jeffery Report) strongly supporting the need for a West African Examination Council and making detailed recommendations on the composition and duties of the council. Following this report, the groups met with the governments of these countries, and they agreed on establishing a West African Examination Council, fully adopting Jeffery's recommendations.