In Kaduna State, about 701 students were denied sitting for the ongoing 2022 West African Senior School Certificate Examination(WAEC) after paying a total sum of N12.61million WAEC fees.
Journalists gathered that the students, from nine secondary schools in the state, five government and four private schools, were stopped from writing the exams because the uploading of their Continuous Assessment (CASS) onto the WAEC portal failed and the portal was shut by the examination body at the end of the deadline.
Though WAEC called some of the affected schools’ attention to the failed uploading on April 1, 2022, giving them ample time to rectify the anomaly, all entreaties to the WAEC Zonal Coordinator for North West, Mr Audu Paiku to reopen the portal for them to upload the CASS was rejected.
The affected schools include Government Secondary School, Kuse (all 290 final year students), Government Secondary School Independence Way, Kaduna (all 150 final year students), Government Secondary School, Kagarko (110 students), Government Senior Secondary School, Iddah (100 students).
Others are Al-Bahmeen Academy, Kaduna (all 8 final year students), Kalhyatu AbdulRahman Bin Auf Academy, Jere (15 students), Great Panaf Schools, Kaduna (13 out of 62 students), ECWA Secondary School, Kubacha (10 students) and Government Secondary School, Mato (5 students).
When journalists met the North West WAEC Zonal Coordinator, Mr. Audu Paiku to know if he was aware of the challenge, if he did refused to reopen the WAEC portal to allow the 701 students rectify the failed uploading and why he did so, he referred them to the Kaduna state Ministry of Education, noting that all the required information were with the ministry.
Kaduna state Ministry of Education had in a letter written to WAEC National Office through WAEC Zonal office in Kaduna on the issue. The letter dated April 12th, 2022, a copy of which was obtained by journalists, was signed by the Overseer of the Kaduna State Schools Quality Assurance Authority, Aliyu Idris requesting WAEC to reopen it’s portal to allow the 701 students upload their CASS, but the examination body refused.
Government Girls Secondary School Independence Way, Kaduna, Great Panaf Schools, Kaduna and Al-Bahmeen Academy, Kaduna, while confirming the incident said they did everything possible to enable their students join their colleagues in writing their final exams but WAEC Zonal Coordinator did not yield.
