Olusegun Bamgbose, Esq., National Coordinator Concerned Advocates for Good Governance, CAGG, has described the decision of the President Muhammadu Buhari Government to reverse its earlier announcement on the resumption of schools for exiting students as inimical to the future of education in Nigeria.
He said the decision to pull out Nigerian students from the 2020 West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination, WASSCE, lacks merit and substance.
Bamgbose said the reason school children need to be protected from being infected by COVID-19 is germane, but not sustainable in the long run.
Recall that the Federal Government had canceled the resumption of schools for graduating classes.
This was announced by the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, while speaking to State House Correspondents during the weekly Federal Executive Council presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday.
Adamu also disclosed that 2020 West African Senior School Certificate Examination, WASSCE, has been postponed indefinitely.
This was after the government had announced August 5th as scheduled date for WAEC exam.
But Bamgbose, in a statement on Saturday, noted that, “Our nation is not at war or serious unrest, it’s a pandemic that can be controlled. It will be shameful and disgraceful for Nigeria, the giant of Africa, with all the resources at our disposal, not to allow our Schools participate in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination.
“The Schools cannot be closed indefinitely. The COVID-19 is not something that will vanish in a moment. We need to check up the statistics of how many of our students are already affected.
“How vulnerable are they? How quickly can they recover if they are affected? These are vital issues that should have been considered before taking such a rash decision.
“Allowing the final year students to sit for their exams would have been a very good way to determine when other students may likely be allowed to resume as well.
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“I will urge the Federal Government to urgently review its decision and allow our students to sit for the SSCE as scheduled.
“The risk is worth taking. We stand the risk of losing some of these students to social vices, if they are not allowed to resume to sit for the exams as their other counterparts in the region.
“We must value education, without necessarily undermining the health of our students. We should strike a balance.
“Things won’t go awry if the guidelines for resumption are strictly followed. Indefinite closure of schools will certainly be counterproductive.”