* FG insists schools will remain closed
The six Southwest states have agreed to reopen schools for SS3 students to participate in the West African School Certificate Examination (WASCE) next month.
The states are Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Oyo.
Their decision is contrary to the position of most of the 19 Northern states, which supported the Federal government’s decision to suspend school reopening for SS3 students due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Federal government also declared last week that candidates will not participate in WASCE over safety concerns.
But at a virtual meeting by the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission, Commissioners, Special Advisers on Education and SUBEB chairmen reached an agreement to reopen schools for SS3 students to write their final examinations.
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.
The plan was laid out at the roundtable on creating a collaborative framework for education development and advancement in Western Nigeria in Osogbo, the Osun State capital in 2016.
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.
But the Federal government has insisted that its decision to halt resumption of schools and postpone participation in final examinations for secondary school students remains intact.
The Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, last week told State House Correspondents that schools would remain shut and final year students would not write the West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) until the Ministry considered it safe.
The Minister considered reopening schools and allowing academic activities, including writing examinations, too risky, considering the rising spread of coronavirus.
The decision was received with mixed reactions, drawing huge outcry from a section of the population, including the National Assembly, which called on President Muhammadu Buhari to prevail on the Ministry to rescind its position.
However, speaking to State House Correspondents after the eighth virtual Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja on Wednesday, Minister of State for Education, Chief Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, said the position remained unchanged.
He however pointed out the Ministry was still consulting with education stakeholders on what the best position should be, adding the West African Examination Council (WAEC) had also started consultations with West African nations on a possibility of shifting dates.
“We are still meeting with parents over the decision of the Ministry. What the Minister said reflects the true position of the Ministry; we are not confident yet that everywhere is safe, the numbers from the NCDC are still alarming and we have put this before parents and all the stakeholders in the Education ecosystem, we are still meeting with them. In fact, there’s a stakeholders’ meeting convened for Monday.
“WAEC on its own part is also negotiating with other West African countries to look at possible shift in date. Once they are through with that meeting and hopefully when we are through with the consultation with stakeholders, if there’s any change in the Ministry’s position, we will communicate, but as it stands, the position of the Minister, as communicated to you last week, remains the position of the Ministry until further evidence to the contrary or further agreements that may alter those arise,” Nwajiuba said.