By Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
Wisconsin International University College (WIUC) in Ghana has opened its Paper-Based Occupational English Test (OET) Centre in Accra-Ghana.
The Paper-Based OET Centre, which is the first of its kind in the West Africa sub-region, is an international test that assesses the English language and clinical communication skills of healthcare professionals who seek to register and work in an English-speaking country.
At a short but impressive ceremony at the University’s main campus at North-Legon, the President of the WIUC Ghana and Chairman for the occasion, Professor Obeng Mireku, disclosed that the University, through its Centre for Professional Studies, began the application process with Cambridge Boxhill Language Assessment (CBLA), the lawful owner of the OET worldwide in the year 2020.
“Subsequently, in September 2022, an official agreement was signed by the two parties, Wisconsin International University College Ghana and Cambridge Boxhill Language Assessment. This bilateral agreement in effect approved the Accra campus of WIUC Ghana as an appropriate hosting facility for the administration of the test,” he explained.
Professor Mireku added that the agreement makes WIUC Ghana the first and only venue to be licenced to host the administration of a Paper-Based OET Centre in the country.
This latest milestone, the President of WIUC Ghana, maintained, is in line with the university’s mission to develop world-class human resources equipped with the appropriate knowledge, skills, and attitudes to meet national development needs and global challenges through quality teaching, learning, research, knowledge dissemination, and collaboration with key stakeholders.
In an interview with GBC Ghana Online on the sidelines of the event, Dr. Charles Acheampong, Director for Professional Studies, said one unique thing about the Paper-Based OET Centre is that all tests are paper-based unlike the computer-based tests done in other centres in West Africa.
“Here, tests will be paper-based, thereby leaving full control of the test in the hands of the candidates. Thus, the challenges that candidates experience with the computer-based assessments will be eliminated.”
Dr. Acheampong assured would-be candidates that the centre is well-equipped with all the required facilities according to OET standards. “The interlocutors, invigilators, and administrators have all been recruited,” he added.
According to him, all the appropriate orientation has been given in readiness for the first exam, which is slated to take place on November 19, 2022.