The West African Examination Council (WAEC) has introduced an on-the-spot registration opportunity for private candidates wishing to participate in the forthcoming November/December 2014 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) as part of the measures aimed at assisting those candidates who may have missed the registration period.
This was disclosed on Thursday at a press briefing addressed by the Head of Nigeria’s office of WAEC, Charles Eguridu, where he warned prospective candidates with symptoms of sickness to stay away from examination centres as part of measures to curb the spread of the dangerous Ebola Virus Disease, EVD.
Eguridu, noted that the initiative, tagged “registration for walk-in-candidates,” will attract the sum of N25, 000, pointing out that it would afford private candidates the rare opportunity of walking into any of the exam body’s offices nationwide to register and sit for the examinations same day.
According to him, “The registration of the “walk-in-candidates” which will commence on Tuesday, August 26, will continue throughout the duration of the examination. The candidates should also note that they would only be able to sit for the examination in cities and towns where the Council’s offices are located provided they have two passport photographs, in addition to the registration fee, in bank draft, drawn in favour of WAEC and not later than the day of the paper they intend to sit.”
The WAEC boss further explained that such opportunity could only be available for private candidates in the November December examination, saying the requirement of continuous assessment results for May/June SSSCE candidates would make it impossible to extend such opportunity to them.
Eguridu, however, clarified that the fee of N25, 000 is generally applicable regardless of the number of subjects a candidate would sit for, adducing the initiative would cost the body more as a result of the impromptu arrangement.
In the mean time, the exam body has also expressed its readiness to curb the spread of the Ebola virus by putting in place necessary preventive measures for all the centres and its staff including hand gloves, masks and sanitisers, among others.
“In other countries, we are aware the examination has been put on hold, so we thank the Federal Government for the prompt interventions made so far and the decision to allow our examinations to continue. But we are also prepared to complement government efforts at curbing the spread and that is why we are warning any of our candidates with signs and symptoms of sickness to stay away from centres,” Eguridu stated.
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