The Head of the Nigeria National Office of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Dr Amos Dangut, has made an urgent appeal to organized labour for an exemption from the ongoing nationwide strike.
This request aims to ensure the uninterrupted conduct of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), which commenced on April 30 and is scheduled to end on June 24, 2024.
The nationwide strike, initiated on Monday, June 3, 2024, is a response to the Federal Government’s refusal to increase the proposed minimum wage from N60,000.
Dr Dangut emphasized the critical importance of allowing students to complete their exams, stressing that they would be disadvantaged they would face if unable to do so.
His words: “We share the pains of Nigerian workers and understand the difficult situation we are all in.
“However, it is crucial for our students to complete their exams to compete globally. Missing these exams would put them at a major disadvantage compared to their peers in other parts of the country and the world.”
Dr Dangut stressed that WAEC is not isolated from the nation’s challenges and expressed solidarity with the workers’ demands for improved conditions.
However, he reiterated the importance of balancing these needs with the educational requirements of the students.
“Globalisation means our children need to be equipped to fit into a global scenario. If they miss their exams, they will miss crucial opportunities for further education and career advancement.
“The world will not understand our internal challenges if we fail to allow our children to write their exams,” he explained.
He appealed to all stakeholders, including teachers and gatekeepers, to create an enabling environment for the smooth conduct of the exams.
“We must ensure our children can write their exams to compete with others worldwide. We are prepared to conduct the exams, but we need the support of everyone involved,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has called on the Nigerian government to bolster children’s education by implementing early warning systems in schools across 10 states to identify threats like school attacks
The appeal follows a report revealing that over the past decade, more than 1,680 school children have been abducted in Nigeria.
Cristian Munduate, UNICEF’s representative in Nigeria, emphasized the urgency of safeguarding children’s education, stating, “The kidnapping of the Chibok girls was a wake-up call to the severe risks our children face in their pursuit of education.”
