WAEC Exam Date: Reps, Stakeholders To Involve Governors’ Forum 0

The House of Representatives Committee on Basic Education and Services, the Ministry of Education and West African Examination Council, WAEC, Nigeria Thursday brainstormed on possible options for examinations date.

The stakeholders however agreed that if they were to make the September date for the Examination a reality, there is need to get President Muhammadu Buhari and the Governors’ Forum involved in coming up with a timely and effective decision.

They agreed that in the interest of the 1.6 million candidates registered for the West African School Certificate Examinations, there was a need to agree on a date for the regional examination as time was running out for the country.

One of the options was to find a date acceptable and immediate as the head of WAEC National office in Nigeria, Patrick Areghan revealed that it takes quite a while to print question papers and that other convoluted logistic considerations might come into play.

Areghan said that Ghana had wanted to have the examination in June, because its an election year in the country, but shelved it because of Nigeria.

He also revealed that it took a presidential directive for the Gambia to shelve its desire to have the examination before now. So, according to him, Nigeria should decide on if it wants to give its candidates what he called a COVID-19 exam certificate or a WAEC Certificate in concert with the other countries.

According to him, getting parents to pay another set of fees might be difficult if the September date is missed, warning that if the November option is considered, “someone has to pick the bills.”

The permanent secretary ministry of Education, Arc. Sonny Echono said that WAEC is one of institutions that espouses regional cooperation and having a stand-alone examination will defeat the element of unity it portrays.