Following the announcement of the date for the 2020 West African Senior School Certificate Examination, the West African Examination Council has announced guidelines for the conduct of the examination amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Head of National Office (HNO) of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Mr Patrick Areghan, disclosed this on Tuesday at a press briefing in Lagos.
Seemingly, the body warned that inadequate preparation would not be an excuse for examination malpractice, noting that the examination slated to hold from August 3 to September 5, would be conducted from Monday to Saturday.
Insideojodu had earlier reported that the Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba, said on Monday that school facilities would be made available for revision classes ahead of the examination.
“Schools must provide wash-hand buckets with running water, soaps, hand sanitizers and thermometer hand-gun to check the temperature of all concerned.
“All examination functionaries, including the Council’s staff on distribution; Supervisors; Invigilators, Inspectors; candidates and school officials will be required to wear face masks, wash and sanitize their hands daily and throughout the duration of the examination.
“Let me assure you and the general public that we shall adhere strictly to social/physical distancing in the examination halls by making sure that candidates sit two (2) metres apart.
“This means that many more classrooms will be used and many more supervisors and invigilators required to conduct the examination.
“This has raised the need for the provision of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to staff, supervisors and other examination officials,” he said.