Exit classes in the pandemic

Fresh indications emerged over the last couple of weeks that there are challenges with internal coordination and consistency in government.

Education Minister of State Emeka Nwajuiba made known on Monday, 6^th July, that the Federal Government had approved “safe reopening” of schools nationwide from 13^th July. This is to allow students in exit classes – Primary 6, Junior Secondary School 3 and Senior Secondary School 3 – return to school for revision preparatory to their final exams, most notably the West African Senior Secondary Examinations (WASSCE) slated for 4^th August to 5^th September. According to him, the SSCE schedule was “part of our discussions” with stakeholders including the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT). “The idea is, we have a month from now till 4^th August, so states that are willing should make their schools available for their children to revise,” he had said, adding that once the five member-nation West African Examination Council (WAEC) concludes its papers, local examination bodies namely National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB) and National Examination Council (NECO) would take their turns.

Two days later, on Wednesday 8^th July, Education Minister Adamu Adamu made a volte face, saying schools would not reopen until the Covid-19 pandemic drastically abates. In effect, Nigerian students would not participate in the SSCE scheduled to begin August 4. He added that WAEC had no right to determine resumption date for schools in Nigeria. The minister also called on states to refrain from reopening schools under their control, saying it was preferable for Nigerian students to lose an academic year than be exposed to danger of infection by the new coronavirus. “I feel responsible for all children in Nigeria, not just those in Federal Government-controlled schools. Please, let’s save our children from this,” he pleaded, noting that if things go wrong in the name of sitting an exam, one infected child could infect everyone in the class, just as “if one child in the hostel is infected, the next morning, everybody could be infected. So, this is not the right time to reopen schools.”

Very humanistic and paternal motivation there, you would say. But there were indications the minister also had a beef with how WAEC arrived at the timetable for its exams without carrying the ministry along. Reports said a meeting of stakeholders had been called to consider what needed to be done for schools to reopen, and while the meeting was yet to conclude, the examination body proceeded to announce a schedule for the SSCE. “So, let’s see who they are going to start with,” Adamu was reported saying.

We may ask from now till kingdom come how government happened upon raising hopes of schools reopening and students sitting the SSCE in the first place and never get an answer. So, better to interrogate the implications of the recant, which left the sector in disarray and conflicting purposes among stakeholders.

The House of Representatives was swift to point out policy deficits of the reversal. Its Committee on Basic Education and Services said it was unhelpful for Nigeria to unilaterally shelve the sub-regional exams, especially as the minister did not make clear if government acted in concert with other West African leaders or in consultation with WAEC, the state governments and other stakeholders in the education sector. Committee chairman, Prof. Julius Ihonvbere, argued that the policy reversal was “bound to create further confusion in the education sector, create disappointment and suspicion among parents, frustrate students. It would also show our development partners and Nigerians that the distortions and disarticulations in the sector are only getting worse.”

In the panel’s view, the decision betrayed laid-back disposition on the part of government towards dealing with the challenge of the pandemic. It proposed an alternative approach that would involve Nigeria insisting among other things that the exams be limited to syllabus covered by schools; that WAEC quadruple the number of its invigilators and use all classrooms and event centres to conduct the examination, so to comply with Covid-19 protocols; that the ministries of Science and Technology, Environment and Health work in concert to fumigate all centres to be used and provide personal hygiene items; and that students be made to come from home to write their papers and disperse immediately after.

At the sub-national level, the reversal refreshed historical faultline of regional politics over national education policy. Commissioners of education in the northern states rooted for decision, saying keeping schools shut amidst spiraling coronavirus infections was a wise call to keep pupils safe. “We have, therefore, resolved that schools should be reopened only when it is safe to do so and when states have complied with the minimum Covid-19 safety protocols as outlined by the NCDC,” they said inter alia in a communique. South-west states took an opposite stance, saying they preferred schools reopening and fielding pupils for the 2020 SSCE. A statement after a virtual meeting convened by the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission in collaboration with the forum of south-west education commissioners, special advisers on education and the State Universal Basic Education Board chairmen said the states were ready, although they entertained the option of formally seeking a postponement of the examination by WAEC rather than unilateral withdrawal. They as well urged the examination body to consider administering Computer-Based Tests.

“Stepping down 2020 WASSCE portends dislocations for the education system far beyond the secondary level.”

Parents and school proprietors are perhaps more affected and they haven’t been quiet. The prevailing view among them is rejection of the prospects of Nigerian students unilaterally forfeiting a year. Both the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) and National Parents-Teachers Association of Nigeria (NAPTAN) urged government to reconsider its position. NAPPS president, Yomi Otubela, was reported saying rather than wholesale withdrawal of Nigerian candidates from the exams, government should set safety benchmarks for their conduct and ensure strict compliance. “Our position is that all private schools are ready to write the WASSCE. We have put in place all necessary precautions advised by the NCDC. We appeal to the education minister to reconsider his position and…allow the children to sit for the examinations,” he added. For its part, NAPTAN said parents were uncomfortable with government’s inconsistency over reopening of schools. Its president, Haruna Danjuma, argued: “We must note that apart from general papers such as Mathematics, English and Biology, we cannot have more than 200 candidates in most examination halls…If our children don’t sit for the SSCE, what will they hold to pursue admission into higher institutions?”

To be sure, stepping down 2020 WASSCE portends dislocations for the education system far beyond the secondary level. The Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB) has held its Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, with respective university having conducted complementary screenings. Candidates who scaled those hurdles will be hindered from getting into university on account of not having the School Certificate qualification. Notice that if WASSCE is not feasible anytime soon, the prospects of NECO and NABTEB holding are up in the air.

Meanwhile, there are other consequential effects. The present inactivity regarding learning holds scary prospects of mental seediness on the part of pupils, if not indeed their teachers. To make this point from personal lenses, every time I look out of the window and see pupils fritter away idle time – apparently with their teachers up to other engagements – I dread what it would take to jumpstart the brains of both pupils and teachers when schooling resumes. The hype about virtual teaching and learning is cold comfort because there is no equitable access to make that method effective. All these isn’t to mention huge economic losses associated with shuttering schools – public and private – sine die.

So, it is in the interest of our educational system that learning gets going one way or the other. Thankfully, it was announced at the weekend that WAEC has adjusted its schedule for the SSCE to commence from 5^th September. This gives Nigeria a breathing space to get ready. Late last week, the education minister raised another red flag, telling national lawmakers that schools couldn’t reopen now for the SSCE owing to lack of funds to make ready some 19,000 centres needed for 1.5million students expected to sit the exams. The one-month reprieve hopefully offers room for government to reset its priorities so to field candidates for the examination. Nigeria simply can’t afford to unilaterally forfeit a year.