Confusion as SS3 boarding students in Lagos to write WASSCE from home

There is palpable apprehension among parents and the SS3 students in Lagos State over the last Friday announcement by the state government that students in boarding schools, who are to sit for the forthcoming West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) conducted by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) would be coming from home and not to be allowed to stay in the hostels when the schools reopen on August 3rd for revision classes and throughout the period of their exam.

Recall that the state governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who doubles as Incident Commander, was on Friday announced, among others that schools would be reopened in the state for only SS3 and Technical 3 students on August 3rd to enable them to do some revision work ahead of the exam and also to sit for their WASCCE which has been postponed since April due to Coronavirus pandemic in the country and globally.

Recall also that the governor said even at the gradual reopening, all the established public health safety guidelines and protocols must be followed in all schools during the period, all to curb the spread of the virus.

However, many parents of students in schools such as the state-owned model colleges and the various private schools that run boarding facilities and who live far away from schools and some even outside the state told our correspondent in a separate interview that they were seriously confused as to what to do for their children to partake in both the revision classes and the actual WASSC exam now that government has barred hostel activities.

They said the policy has been giving them a lot of concern.

For example, Mr Olabode Adewunmi said he lives in Sango-Ota, Ogun State while his son is schooling at Model College, Noforija- Epe which is more than 50 kilometres apart. Another parent, Mr Uche Chukwudi, whose family lives in Ikeja said his son would write his exam at Model College, Ikorodu, where he schools. And yet another, Mrs Beatrice Ifeanyi whose family lives in Egbeda, said her daughter attends a private school in Lekki.

They said going to school from home and returning back home on a daily basis for the period of the revision and the exam would simply not feasible for their children.

They said apart from the long distances, going to school and returning home daily would be a greater health and safety risk than if they stay in hostels for their children, especially those who would make use of public transport.

They said it would be better and advisable for boarding students to stay in their hostels than to be going from home more so that students concerned are few and already matured preparing to live independent lives in higher institutions.

In the same vein, the private school owners including the President, National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), Lagos State chapter, Mr Olawale Mohammed and his counterpart in charge of League of Muslim School Proprietors (LEAMSP), Mr Fatai Raheem and the President of Association of Formidable Education Development (AFED), Mr Orji Kanu, who are also parents sharing the thought, saying they have boarders in their schools who are not only living far from schools but whose parents live totally outside Lagos.

They said it is not that they don’t appreciate the efforts of the state government in curbing the spread of COVID-19, but it should have a rethink as regards barring of hostel facilities during the period.

For example, NAPPS boss, using his schools as a reference, said, “Two of my schools run boarding facilities and have students whose parents are based in Portharcourt, some in Sango in Ogun State and some in Ibadan in Oyo State and so on and if they won’t be allowed to stay in the hostels to write their exam, where do we keep them when their parents are not in Lagos.

“This is a big challenge to us,” he stressed.”And we are very worried about it.”

He, just like others told our correspondent that since only SS3 and Technical 3 students would be in school, their monitoring and effective management in class and hostels in line with the safety measures would not be difficult to do because they are few.

The Deputy National President, Parent-Teacher Association of Nigeria (PTAN) and the southwest coordinator of the group, Chief Deolu Ogunbanjo, also agreed with the argument and appealed to the state government to look again at the policy and allow the students in boarding schools to stay in their hostels to write their exam.

He said to be going to school from home even by those whose parents live in Lagos would be traumatic for students as many of them would have to rush and struggle with other commuters for bus and in the process may be infected with the virus.

But in his reaction, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Gboyega Akosile, though, acknowledged the challenge as a big one, told our correspondent in an exclusive interview that solution would certainly come up to address the challenge in the phase of time.

He reiterated that government came up with the policy to avoid concentration of students in one place and consequently prevent the spread of Coronavirus among them since they are coming from different homes without knowing their COVID- 19 status.

He said the state commissioner for education, Mrs Folasade Adefisayo, had been engaging critical stakeholders in the education sector since the schools’ closure and would continue to do so till normalcy returns in the country.

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