The Federal Government has announced the indefinite postponement of the 2020 West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO) because of the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic.
The Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, said this at the daily Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 briefing in Abuja on Tuesday. Both examinations were slated for May and June 2020.
The minister said that 15 states had already commenced electronic learning for pupils on their local television and radio channels following the stay-at-home order of the federal and some state governments.
Nwajiuba appealed to parents to cooperate with the government to ensure that their children were made available to learn at the designated hours and channels.
The minister said schools cannot be reopened until all efforts have been coordinated by the government.
The minister explained that the biggest challenge is how to reach pupils who are living in rural communities without devices to learn and added that the ministry is working with the Nigeria Television Authority and Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria to reach the pupils and students in the areas.
Schools nationwide were vacated in March due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.