The West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) for 2020-2021 is set to hold from August 16 to September 30, 2021, Africa Today News, New York reports.
The Exams which is slated to commence on Monday is being scheduled for 1,573,789 SS3 candidates.
The Head of National Office, Patrick Areghan, on Tuesday explained that the Council experienced delays in starting the examination owing to the impact of the COVID-19 on the 2020/2021 academic calendar as well as the failure of schools to register their SS3 candidates on time in line with Government policy of documenting the Continuous Assessment Scores (CAS) of school candidates. Usually, the WASSCE for school candidates begins March/April and ends May.
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According to him: ‘Some of you may be surprised that the examination is being held again in the month of August instead of May/June, and coming after some other national examinations had taken place. The reasons for this are not farfetched.
‘The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a disruption and distortion of the academic calendar in the West African Sub-region. The Final International Timetable was therefore, drawn in such a way as to cater for the interests of all the five-member countries.
‘The timetable was specifically drawn to align with Nigeria’s emergency academic calendar and also in deference to the specific request made by the Federal Ministry of Education.’
Africa Today News, New York gathered that of the 1,573,789 candidates from 19,425 recognised secondary schools across the country, 792,620 (50.36 per cent) are males; while 781,169 (49.64 per cent) are females
Speaking on the WAEC Chatbot, Areghan said candidates can make requests from the council online through its Request Management System and WAEC-Chatbot.
The HNO said that through the online platforms, candidates and others can process and track requests from the Council – including requesting for certificates – without visiting WAEC offices physically. He also noted that the WAEC chatbot could interact with candidates on WhatsApp.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK