149 Nigerian Students Bag British Council Cambridge Learner Awards

Ayodeji Ake

No fewer than 149 Nigerian students have bagged the 2023 British Council Recognition and Outstanding Cambridge Learner Awards.

The awards are  in four categories: High Achievement, Top in Nigeria, Best Across Awards, and Top in the World.

Speaking at the award ceremony that was held in Lagos, the Regional Director, Sub-Saharan Africa, Cambridge Assessment International Education, Mr. Juan Visser confirmed that 149 Nigerians got the awards out of one million learners this year.

Visser said that the Cambridge programmes and qualifications helped learners reach their potential and instill a lifelong love of learning and passion for discovery.

“The awards recognise the exceptional performance of learners around the world in Cambridge examination. The awards reflect the talent and hard work of learners and acknowledged the dedication and commitment of both teachers and parents.”

Expressing the significant impact of the council, Country Director, Nigeria British Council, Ms. Lucy Pearson, said that two million people from 90 countries sit for international exams every year through the British Council.

She added that the award event was a way of motivating and celebrating students who have done well academically.

She said: “Our globally recognised qualifications help students to attend the best universities, find amazing career opportunities, and set themselves up for a more rewarding life.

“The British Council in Nigeria, in collaboration with our partners, Cambridge Assessment Internationally Education, recorgnises the outstanding Cambridge learners in 2022. We are honoured to work with our partners school in delivering UK assessment and qualifications in Nigeria.

“As the UK’s cultural relations organisation, we work with diverse individuals, communities and organisations and by doing so, we aim to develop and sustain partnership and relationships based on mutuality.

“Our EDI policy is about treating people fairly, impartially and without bias, and creating conditions in the workplace and wider society that encourage and value diversity and promote dignity.

“Due to our commitment to this policy as an organisation, we have decided to present awards of recorgnition to outstanding partner schools that have also exemplified this policy in their own immediate locality.

“Events like this one are important for us; students are at the heart of what we do. We encourage, recorgnise and reward learning. The assessment and qualifications we offer empower students to develop their own interests and cultivate an informed curiosity and a lasting passion for learning.”

One of the recipients of the ‘Top in the World’ award, Miss Ngozichukwu Victoria Okoro, expressed enthusiasm when she spoke with newsmen.

She said: “I’m so happy right now. I don’t see it coming. I wrote the exam in good faith and I affirmed success to myself. When the result came out I was so happy. My simple advice to students outside is that they should put in their best in whatever exam they want to write. It goes a long way.”