The Federal Government has said that it cannot give definite date for reopening of schools nationwide for now when the coronavirus pandemic is escalating in the country.

Minister of State for Education, Mr Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, who made this known on Tuesday in Abuja while responding to questions at the Presidential Task Force briefing on COVID-19, said government would not want to jeopardise the lives of school children and their families.

Nwajiuba also debunked claims in some quarters that the West African Examination Council (WAEC) has cancelled its forthcoming examinations, explaining that the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSSCE) was only postponed indefinitely.

He said the children were being prepared for the examination and that as soon as the situation normalised, a date would be fixed for the examination.

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He said: “Government is trying to address the issue of opening the economy gradually. Until that is done, we can’t say immediately when all the schools will be reopened.

“It will not be proper to simply give you a date. It has to work in tandem with this opening scheme, because we don’t want to put our children at risk in anyway. None of these schools can on their own function outside the society.

“It is the same thing when you asked the second question, which is when do we plan to have children going to the next classes? Those exams will happen when we are satisfied that the children have gotten the syllabus and learnt what is enough for them to move.

“But for those who are in the exit classes of junior basic and senior secondary schools, we are preparing them and we are going to continue to prepare them to ensure that they are equipped for the external examination.

“This then dovetailed into the first question, which is did WAEC postpone or cancel exam; it has not cancelled. The examination is postponed indefinitely.

“This indefinite nature is so that we can get a definite date and when we get a definite date, it no longer becomes indefinite but it has not been cancelled. Students will still go to take that exams, but at a definite date when we are sure that we have cascaded everybody into that point.”