THE Executive Secretary, Benue State Examinations Board, Makurdi, Mr Iorbee Hon, has expressed the readiness of the Board for the conduct of Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE), which is slated to begin on August 24, 2020 despite the short notice given to them by the federal government after a long period of shutdown of schools occasioned by Covid-19 pandemic.
Mr Hon stated that the short time is enough for them to “manoeuvre” as exiting students are billed to reopen on 4th and 24th of August for SS3 and JSS 3 students, respectively. He said questions for BECE have already set questions.
Mr Hon assured that students will excel in the exams without compromising standards as according to him, most schools were teaching their students at home online during the shutdown period.
“Standard cannot be compromised. You know that the syllabus covers a whole year, it is quite true and we have already set exams covering the whole year. But given the fact that when the students were at home, their parents were advised to have them have a kind of online lesson and in the state here, I can testify to the fact that most schools were doing that. Even the school where my child is currently schooling, St John’s Secondary School Yima, held online lessons. So, we perceive and view, and know quite well, that definitely, they shall pass exams without anyone compromising the standards,” Hon assured.
Talking about the challenges, the Executive Secretary expressed worry about Covid-19 which he said has turned everything upside down and has come to stay with us until a medicine is found for it. He said that the Board will advise the proprietors to ensure that the rules provided by the federal government to prevent the spread of the virus are strictly adhered to.
The rules include, providing running water for students to wash their hands regularly, provision of hand sanitizers and ensuring that every student wears facemask. They will also ensure social distance such that one child will sit per seat so far as the school is going to reopen only for the exiting classes and if the halls are exhausted during the exams, they will move to the classrooms. For those who are operating boarding schools, social distance will be maintained in the dormitories so that beds will be placed side by side and there will be one child per bed.
He added that they intend to call on proprietors of private schools to provide thermometers for each school for temperature gauge of students in order to ascertain one of the basic symptoms before they are allowed to enter school premises.
He said as guided by the federal government directive, provision has been made for sick bays in schools so that if any case is suspected, the suspected case will quickly isolated, while those confirmed will be considered after the exams when they recover.
Mr Hon urged the students to study hard within the short time available in order to excel in the exams.
