Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Gambia and Liberia have started talks on postponing the West African Secondary School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE), an official said.
The Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, said it in Abuja on Friday.
He said Nigeria and the four countries are seeking a new date for this year’s WASSCE, which Nigeria has temporarily withdrawn.
“We met with WAEC on Monday and (we) have agreed to further consult with four other countries on a new examination date,” he said.
Efforts to get a response from WAEC to the discussions were futile, as its spokesperson, Damian Ojijeogu, did not respond to the calls and messages sent to him.
The Nigerian government reversed its earlier declaration of the resumption of schools. It also stated that no Nigerian school will participate in the WASSCE earlier scheduled for August 5 to September 5.
Decisions were taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among students.
Secondary school students living in five English-speaking countries write WASSCE, which is coordinated by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC).
This year’s examination was postponed indefinitely in April, after it had already been scheduled to begin in May.
This was delayed after schools were shut down across the countries in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Apart from the postponement of its examination, WAEC also suspended its 68th annual meeting of the Council scheduled for Liberia from 23 to 27 March 2020.
The Council decided to postpone the annual meeting after its 176th Special International A&F Committee meeting in Accra.