.Parents panic as children, wards leave exam hall at night
EMMANUEL AWARI, Jalingo
Final year students and teachers, including corp members, escaped death as the classrooms the students were writing WAEC Examinations in, collapsed on them during a heavy rainfall, which was accompanied by wind storm at Government Secondary School Namnai in Gassol local government area, Taraba state.
The students and Teachers, including supervisors and corp members serving in the school were trapped in the collapsed Classrooms and it took hours of effort of the residents to rescue them .
Many of the students including males and females, sustained serious injuries while some had fracture on the legs,hands and arms.
A resident, Alhaji DanAzumi Lauris, told Journalists in a telephone interview that it was the second set of the students that the classrooms collapsed on, as the first set had finished their exams and left.
He said the incident occurred at about 6pm on Wednesday few minutes after the students started writing the exams when heavy rainfall accompanied by wind storm started in the town.
Danazumi, stated that the injured students, Teachers and corp members were moved to a Primary Healthcare centre located few meters away from the school, where they are now receiving treatment.
He said apart from the school destroyed by the storm, many houses in the town were also destroyed by the storm.
In Jalingo town many students went back home after 1am as a result of heavy rainfall which started when they were writing their exams and lasted hours after the exams had ended, preventing many of them from going back home till after 1am.
Meanwhile, there was widespread anger and frustration among parents and school owners in Taraba State after candidates of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) sat for their English paper late into the night, leaving the examination hall around midnight.
The examination, which was initially scheduled for earlier in the day, was inexplicably delayed by the examination body until about 9:00 p.m., with no official explanation provided.
The majority of the candidates, most of whom are teenagers, were visibly exhausted and wrote the paper under extreme stress.
Despite the heavy downpour, school owners and parents were forced to transport their wards to the examination venues at a time when many would normally be asleep.
A school proprietor who spoke with Journalists confirmed that her students completed their exams at midnight.
She expressed concern over the emotional and physical toll on the students, many of whom had been waiting in school throughout the day.
“As teenagers, they needed to be well-fed and in the right frame of mind to write such a critical paper. I had to take full responsibility for their welfare,” she said.
The proprietor also criticized the poor logistics arrangements by the examination body, revealing that she personally drove out in the rain at night to pick up exam supervisors to ensure the examination could eventually hold.
“I had to buy 30 litres of fuel to power the generator so the hall would be properly lit. This wasn’t part of our plan or budget, and we hope it doesn’t happen again.”
Our Correspondent gathered that while some students managed to return home around midnight, others who couldn’t had to spend the night in school.
The incident has drawn outrage from both parents and educators, who are calling on the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to investigate the delay and ensure such a situation does not repeat itself.
For a better society
Follow us across our platforms:
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/championnewsonline/
Facebook – https://web.facebook.com/championnewsonline
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/champion-newspapers-limited/
https://x.com/championnewsng/
You can also like and comment on our YouTube videos.
https://youtu.be/QIBfD1tT80w?si=R4Qf3so2LxYu3GC2
