The West African Examination Council (WAEC) has warned that its timetable for the 2020 West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE) that will be released after coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic may not leave room for long preparations for candidates.

The council said it had henceforth made available several online resources for candidates and pupils sitting for its terminal examinations. It added that it was making arrangements for online tutorials for the candidates.

The Head, WAEC Public Affairs, Mr. Damian Ojijeogu, said in an interview that there might not be enough time for candidates to thoroughly prepare for the examination, when the council releases its 2020 timetable after the pandemic.

He said,

The turn-out of the use of our online resources by candidates has been encouraging. We have been getting great feedback. Even those who could not log in initially have been assisted to do so. All the subjects are covered.

When the lockdown period is over, we will release the new timetable. It is not good that the candidates are idle at home. So, the online resources will help them to revise and it will assist them to avoid the mistakes of those who have written our examination in the past.

There may not be enough for candidates to prepare for the examination after the pandemic. Those who need online tutors are being provided with such. We hope the pandemic will end and life will return to normal.

The council, on Friday, March 20th, 2020, announced the indefinite postponement of its school certificate examination, due to coronavirus pandemic.

WAEC had noted that the new dates for the examination, which was initially scheduled for Monday, April 6th, would be communicated to schools and other relevant stakeholders in due course.

This decision is a demonstration of the organisation’s concern and support for the various protocols being put in place by the federal and state governments of Nigeria and the governments of the other member countries to check the spread of the disease.

The earlier released timetable for the conduct of the examination is hereby suspended until further notice. We wish to assure all candidates, schools presenting candidates for the examination, all stakeholders and indeed, the general public that this decision will be reviewed once the health situation improves,

the council said.

Justin Nwosu

Justin Nwosu is the founder and publisher of Flavision. His core interest is in writing unbiased news about Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. He’s a strong adherent of investigative journalism, with a bent on exposing corruption, abuse of power and societal ills.