Four West African nations- Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, and Liberia have begun discussions on postponing the West African Secondary School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE).
This move was disclosed by the Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, in Abuja on Friday.
According to him, Nigeria and the four countries are considering a new date for this year’s WASSCE, which Nigeria has temporarily pulled out from.
He said:
We met with WAEC on Monday and (we) have agreed to further consult with four other countries on a new examination date.
The Federal Government of Nigeria reversed its earlier announcement on the resumption of schools. It also said no Nigerian school will participate in the WASSCE earlier scheduled for August 5 to September 5.
The Federal Government said that the decisions were to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among students.
Secondary school graduating students who live in the five English-speaking countries write the WASSCE, which is organised by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC).
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This year’s examination was postponed indefinitely in April after it was earlier scheduled to commence in May.
It was postponed after schools were shut down across the countries in a bid to contain the spread of COVID-19.
Apart from the postponement of its examination, WAEC also suspended its 68th Annual Council meeting scheduled for Liberia from March 23 to 27, 2020.
The council made the decision to postpone the annual meeting after its 176th special international A & F Committee meeting in Accra.
Recall that there was a public outcry after the Federal Government reversed its decision on the reopening of school despite the continuous spread of the disease.
A section of Nigerians thought that the Federal Government is not serious about education and the future of Nigerians at large.
They, however, advised the government to take a cue from other countries that are serious about the education sector.