Now that the Federal Government has announced that West African Examinations Council (WAEC) exams for graduating students amid the coronavirus pandemic, will hold from August 4 till September 5, the council has also released its guidelines for the conduction of the 2020 WASSCE examination.
In a statement by the Head, WAEC Public Affairs, Damian Ojijeogu, it was revealed that the examination would hold for five weeks.
The statement quoted the Head of the Nigeria National Office of WAEC, Patrick Areghan, as saying:
“In conducting the examination, we have taken due cognisance of the various measures/protocols rolled out by the Federal and State governments of Nigeria, aimed at checking the spread of the pandemic.
Schools must provide wash-hand buckets with running water, soaps, hand sanitizers and thermometer hand-gun to check the temperature of all concerned.
All examination functionaries, including the Council’s staff on distribution; Supervisors; Invigilators, Inspectors; candidates and school officials will be required to wear face masks, wash and sanitize their hands daily and throughout the duration of the examination.
Let me assure you and the general public that we shall adhere strictly to social/physical distancing in the examination halls by making sure that candidates sit two (2) metres apart. This means that many more classrooms will be used and many more supervisors and invigilators will be required to conduct the examination.
This has certainly raised the supervision fee to be paid to supervisors as well as the provision of Personal Protective Equipment to staff, Supervisors and other examination officials. No doubt, all these measures have financial implications which were not contemplated at the time of drawing up the budget for the conduct of the examination.”
Areghan, therefore, appealed to federal and state authorities for personal protective equipment for WAEC personnel ahead of the examination which starts first week in August.
