There was tension in parts of Osogbo, the Osun State capital, on Tuesday evening as worried parents stormed secondary schools in search of their children who were delayed during the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
Students who left home in the early hours of the day to sit for their WAEC papers reportedly remained in school till past 7:00 p.m., prompting panic among parents and guardians who said they had not heard from their children since morning.
Parents were seen heading towards prominent schools such as Ataoja School of Science and Christ African Church Grammar School, Gbodofon, Osogbo, where students were still writing the examination as night fell.
It was gathered that the delay was due to late in the arrival of the examination papers from Ibadan.
Unofficial information revealed that the delay was due to a suspected leak of the original examination papers, which reportedly prompted the authorities to retrieve and print a replacement question paper.
The process reportedly caused a prolonged delay, keeping students in examination halls late into the evening.
At Christ African Church Grammar School, security personnel were seen outside the school premises as parents gathered and expressed their concerns over the unusual situation.
A parent who spoke to journalists, visibly distressed, said, “We’ve not seen or heard from our children since they left this morning. We thought something bad had happened. That’s why we came here.”
“We are living at Owode Ede, we were forced to come to Osogbo to know what is going”, she said
Another parent, visibly frustrated, added, “They should have postponed the paper till tomorrow instead of keeping our children in school till this late hour. This is not safe.”
One teacher who spoke to our correspondent under the condition of anonymity said the delay was as a result of logistics.
“The delay was as a result of logistics. Examination papers arrived very late. And have contacted some of the parents to inform them about the development”, he said
As of the time of filing this report, students are still yet to leave or finish the exam.
