The decision of the federal government of Nigeria that students in secondary schools in the country should not take part in the 2020 West African Examination Council WAEC has generated many controversies among educational stakeholders.
The reasons given by the government are the rising cases of coronavirus in Nigeria despite efforts to contain it. They are not happy about the decision of the government which was made through the federal ministry of education.
Since the introduction of lockdown in March because of the coronavirus pandemic students in secondary schools have been at home. The decision shocked many stakeholders such as teachers, students and parents many of whom have criticized the decision as unjust.
Efforts made to enshrine eLearning failed for many reasons such as lack of power and poor access to a reliable internet connection. That means that the educational systems have been on a standstill since the lockdown.
Those that reject the decision and have been calling on the government to change it cite the decision of INEC to go on with elections in o and Edo and Ondo state despite the prevalence of the coronavirus.
Markets and some other places are also open and most people live without following coronavirus prevention guidelines. Not taking the WAEC exam in 2020 will create a gap in the school academic calendar. Students n tertiary institutions have also been negatively affected by the pandemic as their higher institutions have closed because of the lockdown.
It is not certain if their efforts to get the federal government to reverse its decision will succeed but one thing that is certain is that educational stakeholders are divided into their decision to protest the withdrawal.
Private school teachers have been at the forefront of advocating for a return to the classroom because many of them have not been paid salaries since March due to school closure. If the students do not go back to school because of their WAEC, then many teachers will not be earning salaries until next year.
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