The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has stated that the use of face mask will be compulsory for candidates that will be taking the Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE), which is to commence on August 3. This was disclosed by the Head of National Office of the organisation in Nigeria, Mr Patrick Areghan, at a news conference held at WAEC headquarters in Yaba, Lagos on Tuesday.

He said that holding the exam at this time that the pandemic is raging is a delicate one and such all involved must protect themselves and the people around them to help curb the spread of the virus in the country.

He stated that in view of this, all the government’s guidelines and protocols including social\physical distancing and the wearing of face masks by all the candidates and every other person that would be at the exam venues must be observed.

“All schools are also expected to provide thermometer hand-gun, wash- hand buckets with running water, soaps, sanitisers and so forth for use at the exam venues.” He added

Areghan however, lamented what he called the huge cost that it will now take WAEC to conduct the exam, saying it is triple of the original budget prior to COVID-19 just because of the increased logistics and the numbers of supervisors and venues as there is an upsurge in workers and personal protective equipment needed to have a hitch-free exam.

He asked for the support of both the federal and various state government as well as corporate bodies and individuals to come to the aid of WAEC by donating such items as sanitisers, face masks and other required as safety measures at any of their offices nationwide.

He said the time-table for the exam was fixed by all the five members countries and not by Nigeria alone and done after due consultation with the respective government.

He also said the exam would have lasted nine weeks as the previous editions but fused into five in order to make room for other examination bodies to conduct their own exams in good time.