WASSCE: House Committee To Meet With Buhari, NGF On Examination Date

The House of Representatives Committee on Basic Education and Services is set to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari and the Nigerian Governors’ Forum to discuss on how to fix a date for the 2020 West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

The development was revealed by the Chairman of the committee, Julius Ihonvbere, during a meeting with stakeholders in the education sector on Thursday in Abuja.

Hon. Ihonvbere in his statement noted that there is the need for stakeholders to agree and work on how other west African countries would agree on the examination date.

Ihonvbere said, “In the interest of the 1.6 million candidates that registered for the exams, there was a need to agree on a date for the regional examination as time was running out for the country.”

The Head of WAEC National Office in Nigeria, Patrick Areghan, in his statement noted that it would require time to print question papers and that other convoluted logistic considerations might come into play.

Areghan revealed that Ghana had plans to conduct the examination in June because it’s an election year in the country but had to shift its plans because of Nigeria.

Areghan added that it took a presidential directive for The Gambia to shelve its desire to have the examination before now.

“Nigeria should decide if it wants to give its candidates a COVID-19 exam certificate or a WAEC certificate in concert with the other countries.”

“Getting parents to pay another set of fees might be difficult if the September date is missed; if the November option is considered, someone has to pick the bills,” he said.