WASSCE: School leaders in Ibadan express views

No fewer than two leaders of secondary schools in Oyo State have expressed concern about the conditions of classrooms in the schools for the conduct of the West African  Secondary Schools Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) scheduled for August  17 .

In separate interviews with them in Ibadan on Friday, they noted that fewer schools had a hall with capacity to contain all candidates to observe the two-metre social distancing in accordance to the guidelines of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC).

Mr Hassan Adebayo, the Vice-Principal Academic of Isabatudeen Girl’s Grammar School ll, said that “the school has 107 candidates sitting for 2020 WASSCE for subjects on science, commerce and arts.

“Although there are three classrooms and a major hall to conduct the examination, the school is not sure if WAEC will permit the use of classrooms.

“Here in our school, the school had reopened since the government of Oyo State had permitted schools to reopen for graduating classes.

“The sitting arrangements of SSS III have been done, we have fumigated the school premises, including the classrooms and our students are used to the new normal arrangements since the pandemic started.

“There would be one student per seat to ensure social distancing because of COVID-19,’’ he said.

Adebayo noted that the Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE) had started since on Monday and its conduct had been smooth and hitch free.

Speaking on behalf of the principal of Islamic High School, Mr Mojeed Fawumi, a vice-principal, said that the school had started giving out mathematical sets to students provided by WAEC in preparation for Mathematics examination slated for August 17.

“But we are still waiting for directives where WAEC will allow for the use of classrooms or hall. If it is hall, we have one that can accommodate the number of students we have on the ground. We have 129 students sitting for the examinations.

“If WAEC allows classrooms, no problem and if it is hall, no problem as this hall can accommodate 129 candidates conveniently; some schools have challenges of lack of capacity to accommodate their students in a hall but ours is different,’’ he said.

Speaking on the conduct of BECE, Fawumi stated that there are 137 students who registered for the examinations but only 129 were present.

“So far so good, we have no problem with the conduct of the examination; before the commencement of the examinations, the students have resumed and they have been so conversant with the COVID-19 safety protocols.

“That is why you see them clad with face masks and they have to wash their hands,’’ he said.

In Ikolaba High School, Agodi GRA, Oba Akinbiyi Memorial School, Bashorun, Ibadan, preparations were ongoing, though they declined to speak with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on their level of preparedness.

NAN also reports that some schools have old dilapidated buildings used as school halls which will require some refurbishing to make it suitable for the conduct of  WASSCE.

It is observed that there are provision for water and liquid soap for hand washing and students’ temperatures were checked with a digital thermometer before entering the school premises.

Some persons expressed optimism that safety protocols for COVID-19 would be adhered to as students write WASSCE as it was done for BECE in most schools in the state.