The Nigerian office of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), has debunked in its entirety, a story going viral on social media to the effect that the Council had canceled the conduct of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) 2020 in response to the globally ravaging COVID 19.
According to a release signed by the Council’s Head of National Office Nigeria, Mr.Patrick Areghan, the fake cancellation story had even added that the Council had made a promise to refund a sum of N22,500 to each candidate who had registered for the 2020 examination.
Sounding visibly provoked by the concocted story, the HNO stated: ”The publication is patently false and deceitful. It is nothing but the handiwork of mischief makers who are out to defraud innocent and unsuspecting candidates and their parents/guardians.
“This piece of news is certainly not from the West African Examinations Council. It falls short of the Council’s style, language and factual details. They got it all wrong”.
Areghan also punctured the piece on its false claim that the said examination was to commence on April 15, 2020.
The HNO’s release reminded that ”The examination was supposed to start in Nigeria on April 6, 2020 and NOT April 15, 2020, as
stated by the authors.
“The examination fee is N13,950.00 only, NOT N22,500.00. It is, therefore, not reasonable to refund candidates an amount higher than what they had paid to register for the examination.
“WAEC, as an examining body in the sub-region, has not announced the cancellation of the examination; it only announced a postponement until normalcy is restored.
“WAEC couldn’t have made a mistake in the full meaning of its acronym!”
Recall that WAEC, Nigeria issued a press release on the postponement of the examination on March 20, 2020, in appreciation of the stark realities of the moment and in complete deference to the Federal Government, regarding its various control measures against the spread of the disease.
The Council has, therefore, seized the opportunity to reassure all registered candidates, schools and other stakeholders that once the situation returns to normal, it will come up with a new International Timetable for the conduct of the examination in the West African sub-region, after due consultations with relevant stakeholders.
Candidates, according to the release, are, therefore, advised to disregard the ill-intended publication and concentrate on studying hard for the examination.
“Meanwhile, The West African Examinations Council shall continue to respect all the protocols being rolled out by the Federal and the various State governments aimed at containing the pandemic,” the Council assures.
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