WAEC and UNESCO Unveil Bilingual Digital STEM Portal and Regional Scholarships for 2.4 Million Secondary Students

FREETOWN / DAKAR — The West African Examinations Council (WAEC), in technical collaboration with the UNESCO Regional Bureau in Dakar, has unveiled the West Africa Digital STEM Learning Commons, a zero-rated digital education portal accessible to 2.4 million senior secondary candidates across Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and The Gambia.

The platform provides interactive bilingual video masterclasses in advanced mathematics, physics, organic chemistry, and computational coding aligned directly with the revised WASSCE examination syllabuses. Leading telecom operators—including MTN, Telecel, and Orange—have agreed to provide zero-rated mobile data access for secondary school students nationwide.

Concurrently, the consortium announced the West African Merit STEM Scholarships, awarding fully funded four-year university tuition and living allowances to the top 1,000 highest-scoring students from rural and marginalized communities.

WAEC Registrar Pateh Bah underscored that democratizing high-quality STEM education is essential to preparing West African youths for regional industrialization and digital commerce under the AfCFTA framework.