The West African Ex
aminations Council (WAEC) has 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.
The Head, WAEC, National Office, Lagos Charles Eguridu who made this known at a press briefing last Thursday said the measures include the provision of handgloves, masks, sanitisers among others throughout the examination centres and period.
He said “in other countries, we are aware that 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 examinations to continue”.
“But we are also prepared to complement government’s efforts at curbing the spread and that is why we are warning any of our prospective candidates  with signs and symptoms of sickness to stay away from the examination-centres”, Eguridu stated.
Meanwhile, parents have also expressed fears of allowing their wards and children to continue with their summer holiday classes for fear of contact with the Ebola virus.
According to Mrs Beatrice Macdonald, “these children may not be as careful as we adults in looking out for ways of checking themselves.  And so, it’s better to withdraw them for now. Even though that may not be the best option of not contacting the virus, but let’s do our part at least’.
A midwife at the Braithwaite Memorial Specialist Hospital (BMSH), Leah Enoch said “for me I hardly allow my children to go out for now.  When we go to church I ensure that they don’t run and play about so much. Even though they are children, but I try to talk and explain the reason and I think they are understanding and coping.  For the summer lessons, there is a break pending when the scourge will pipe low”.
Teachers of these summer schools are however, not satisfied with the moves as it has affected their income earnings.
They noted that the summer classes were there to put the wards and pupils in the right perspective of their learning processes as well as making up for their low performances in their school studies.
They therefore called on the parents to ignore the uproar of the scourge and give their wards the education they deserve saying that “a gap in their learning process drags them back and this is not good at this their tender ages”.

Lady Godknows Ogbulu