The six Southwest states of Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Ondo, Osun and Ekiti have agreed to reopen schools for SS3 students to participate in the West African School Certificate Examination (WASCE) next month.
The 19 northern states had thrown their weight behind the Federal Government’s decision to suspend school reopening for SS3 students due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
But a contrary decision was agreed upon at Southwest , Commissioners, Special Advisers on Education and SUBEB chairmen at virtual meeting by the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission.
Apart from allowing students to sit for WASSCE, the meeting also agreed on the needs for Southwest states to implement a 2016 plan to establish a regional examination body akin to IJMB in the North.
A statement by the DAWN Commission indicated that all the states will reopen schools for SS3 students by August 3 with COVID-19 preventive measures in place.
According to the statement, the states will approach the Federal Government, at the first instance, to seek postponement of the WASCE by at least three weeks from the proposed resumption date.
At the second instance, states are to directly approach the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to seek postponement of the examination to August 24.
On resumption, all schools are to appoint incident managers and classroom wardens, according to the document.
There will also be designation of quality assurance department for each state to issue a safety compliance certificate to each school before reopening.
The state will also encourage intensive advocacy campaigns to stakeholders including parents, teachers, caregivers, school owners and pupils on what is expected of them when schools resume.
The meeting also called on the WAEC to encourage Computer-Based Tests (CBT) in the future.
