The Southwest States of Nigeria namely Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Ondo, Osun and Ekiti have taken a decision to reopen schools for students in SS3 to take part in the West African School Certificate Examination (WASCE) slated for August.
The new decision by the six states is a direct contradiction of the Federal Government’s position to keep schools closed, preventing SS3 students from the exams as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic.
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The Federal Government decision is firmly backed by most of the 19 northern states, who chose the safety of students over their final exams.
The decision to reopen schools for SS3 students to write their final examinations was agreed upon following a virtual meeting by the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission, Commissioners, Special Advisers on Education and SUBEB chairmen.
A statement released by the DAWN Commission revealed that all the states in the Southwest will reopen schools for SS3 students by August 3 with adequate COVID-19 preventive measures in place.
The states will first approach the Federal Government to seek a postponement of WASSCE by a minimum of three weeks from the proposed resumption date.
The states will directly approach the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to also seek postponement of the examination to August 24.
According to the document, all schools will appoint incident managers and classroom wardens on resumption.
The will also be the implementation of a quality assurance department in all the states to issue a certificate of safety compliance to each school before resumption.
Furthermore, the states will also give room for intensive advocacy campaigns to stakeholders including parents, teachers, school owners caregivers and pupils on what they are expected to do when schools resume.
The virtual meeting also advised WAEC on the need to encourage Computer-Based Tests (CBT) in the near future.
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