Some candidates in the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) organised by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) broke down in tears after their names were missing from examination list in Bauchi State on Monday.
Saga Gist reports that 2020 WASSCE commenced on Monday with General Mathematics.
Our reporter observed at some schools visited on Monday that some candidates who had earlier passed the mock examination conducted by the Bauchi State Government and registered for the examination were disappointed as they did not find their names on the WAEC list brought to their school for the examination.
The discovery by the affected candidates brought tears to their eyes as some were seen crying profusely.
At the General Hassan Katsina Secondary School at Yelwa in Bauchi, some students were seen outside the examination hall at the time their mates were writing the Mathematics examination inside.
One of the students who volunteered to speak with newsmen and gave his name as Aliyu Mohammed, informed that about eight of them were affected in the school.
He expressed unhappiness with the development, saying that after spending three years in the school for his senior secondary classes, what he got was a big disappointment when it mattered most.
According to him, “My name was expunged from the list after I sat and passed the mock examination conducted by the state government to select those of us it paid our WAEC fees.
“I am really disappointed with the development. I am not happy about this it at all. After studying hard despite the coronavirus, does it mean those of us affected would have to wait for another year before we can write WAEC?” she asked rhetorically.
Another student, who claimed he came to the school to study from Kwara State without having any parents or relatives in Bauchi and preferred to remain anonymous, said he was also disappointed.
“Some of us are from Plateau, Gombe, Kano and across 19 northern states. We came to school after the lockdown to write this exam but unfortunately, see what happened to us after payment,” he said.
According to him, “What those responsible for expunging our names from the WAEC list do not know is that they have ruined the future of some of us. The psychological efforts of this will be unredeemable to some for life.”
At the Sa’adu Zungur Model Secondary School, Saga Gist gathered that 50 students were affected, while 15 students were said to be affected at the Government Girls College, Bauchi.
While some of the affected students were seen wearing forlorn looks, others were crying and bemoaning the fate that befell them.
The situation is similar at the Government Comprehensive Secondary School, Ran Road and Government Day Secondary School at Kofar Wambai.
A teacher at one of the schools visited who does not want to be named, expressed regret over what happened to the students, saying that this ought not to have happened at a time virtually every family is battling with the harsh economic situation induced by Covid-19 pandemic.
Another teacher while speaking blamed the state government, saying that the problem occurred at the point of registration of the students for the WAEC examination.
According to the teacher, who wants to remain anonymous, the state Ministry of Education should have allowed each school to handle registration of their students.
Reacting to the development, the Commissioner for Education, Dr Aliyu Tilde, expressed unhappiness over the development.
According to the commissioner, the state government has requested from school principals for the list of students whose names were expunged across the state.
Dr Tilde revealed that the government was planning to how to register the affected students for the forthcoming National Examination Council (NECO)’s SSCE.
“We are planning towards the next coming SSCE (NECO). We will see how we can register them for NECO,” the commissioner said.
He declared that those whose names were put in the place of the affected candidates will have to pay.
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