The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) claims that its examination dates do not conflict with the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) this year (JAMB).
Mr. Patrick Areghan, the council’s Head of National Office (HNO), clarified this in a Saturday interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
Meghan was speaking against the backdrop of worries made by various stakeholders, including parents, that a conflict could jeopardize some candidates’ performance in both exams.
According to reports, the Federal Ministry of Education issued a circular on April 5 titled: Update on 2022 Examinations Timetable for All Examination Bodies, which was addressed to all test bodies in the country, revealing a date clash.
Both the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), organized by WAEC, and the UTME, organized by JAMB, clashed on the same date.
Mr. David Gende, a Director in charge of the ministry’s Office of the Permanent Secretary, was reported to have signed the circular.
Meghan said: “Yes, I have seen it too, but that date is not correct.
“I want to assure the concerned stakeholders and indeed the general public that there is nothing to worry about as there is no clash in dates for our examination with the UTME, as seen in that circular.
“The UTME starts on Friday, May 6, and ends on May 14.
“Our examination for school candidates which is the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) starts on May 16 and not May 6, as is seen on the said circular,” he stated.
InsightnaijaTV reports that a copy of the authentic WASSCE timetable made available to this correspondent confirmed the date for the commencement of the examination.
“From our authentic timetable for candidates for the 2022 examination too, it shows that the papers slated for May 9, are what we call ‘Moving Exams’.
” It is just for the candidates to choose what they want to do for the practicals. Should any candidate fall in this category, he or she will be easily taken care of, by way of rescheduling another date for them.
“The UTME ends on May 14, while our WASSCE starts two days after, being May 16 and not May 6,” the WAEC boss noted.
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