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WAEC may organise independent WASSCE for Ghana alone due to COVID-19

Zadok Kwame Gyesi Jun - 01 - 2020 , 11:32 2 minutes read

The West African Examination Council (WAEC) has indicated its readiness to organise an independent West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for Ghanaian candidates this year as a result of the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) which has resulted in the closure of schools in West Africa.

The Minister of Information, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah gave the hint in a radio interview Monday morning.

If it goes through, it means WASSCE candidates in Ghana may write a different exam from what their colleagues in other West African countries would write.

The WASSCE is a standardised test organised by WAEC for senior high school students in English speaking West African countries, including Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.

Following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease, WAEC suspended the 2020 WASSCE for both senior and junior high school students in its operative countries.

This was because of the closure of all schools in the region, both public and private as part of efforts to prevent the spread of the disease and to contain it.

This affected the academic calendar of the final year students, who were at the time preparing for their WASSCE and Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).

The BECE for junior high school candidates is organized locally in Ghana but the WASSCE is standardized for senior high school candidates in West Africa.

On Sunday, May 31, 2020, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in a televised address announced that final year students in all educational institutions in Ghana, starting from basic to tertiary could go back to school to prepare and write their exit examinations.

So when the Minister of Information was asked during the radio interview on Accra based Citi FM Monday morning [June 1, 2020] on how WASSCE candidates in Ghana alone were going to take their exams when WAEC in itself has suspended the exams for the entire West African region, he said WAEC has already given notice that general examinations have been suspended but it would provide support for countries that would want to organise their independent examinations.

He explained that because Ghana had been able to bring the disease under control, it would organise the exams for its final year students with the support of WAEC.

Mr Oppong Nkrumah, however said the Minister of Education, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh would provide further details on the subject.