Reps Urge Buhari To Reverse WAEC, NECO Decisions
The House of Representatives, yesterday, charged President Muhammadu Buhari to reverse the decision to withdraw Nigeria from participating in this year’s West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and other similar examinations.
The House directed the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, to immediately implement the health safety measures outlined by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for the conduct of the examinations as well as put in place other protocols stipulated by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) for the containment of the virus in schools. It mandated its Committees on Basic Education, Healthcare Services, Water Resources and Legislative Compliance to ensure compliance and report back within two weeks
This followed the adoption of a motion by Nnolim Nnaji and six others on the urgent need to halt Federal Government withdrawal from WASSCE and other similar examinations and to provide conducive environment for students to write their examinations in accordance with NCDC guidelines.
WASSCE conducted by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) is a creation of the former colonial administration to serve five West African countries -Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Gambia-and has been administering the annual regional examination in the last 68 years.
Nnaji, in his lead debate, informed the House that WASSCE, which was origi- nally scheduled to hold between April 6 and June 5 was rescheduled to hold from August 3 September 5 due to the COVID-I 9 pandemic.
He noted that before the West African Examination Council (WAEC) announced the new date, it had consulted extensively with the five countries, including Nigeria, that constitute the council.
Nnaji expressed worry that Nigeria’s non-participation in this year’s examinations portends serious psychological, socio-economic and health effects on the students as well as the already overburdened parents and guardians and also have adverse effects on the country’s educational system and the economy at large.
