The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has urgently appealed for an exemption from the ongoing nationwide strike organized by labor unions, to ensure the smooth conduct of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), which started on April 30 and is scheduled to end on June 24, 2024.
Dr. Amos Dangut, the Head of the Nigeria National Office of WAEC, emphasized the importance of allowing students to complete their exams, highlighting the global disadvantage they would face if unable to do so.
He acknowledged the severe economic challenges and the justified demands of Nigerian workers for a minimum wage increase from N60,000, but stressed the critical need for an enabling environment for the exams to proceed without disruptions.
“You and I are facing a difficult situation. We appreciate the suffering everyone is going through. The state of the country is known to all; it is indeed pathetic. At WAEC, we are not isolated from these challenges,” Dangut said.
He further explained that missing the exams would put Nigerian students at a disadvantage on a global scale, as their counterparts in other regions would not face the same hurdles.
“Today, we talk about globalisation. If our children do not write the exams to fit into a global scenario, they will be at a major disadvantage. Our cause is just—workers are asking for improvements in their conditions.
Unfortunately, the world will not understand the problems we are facing if we don’t allow our children to write their exams. If our children miss their exams while others in different parts of the country do not, will anyone give them admission because there was a strike?” Dangut added.
“Let us allow our children to take the exams so they can compete with other children worldwide. We share the pains of the workers, but for the sake of our children, we must allow them to write the exams. We are appealing to the public for the sake of these children. Let us not compound their problems,” he urged
