Parents of students taking the 2024/2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in Warri, Effurun, and surrounding communities have expressed deep concern over a potential mass failure due to the repeated late delivery of examination materials.

The Nation reports that several students did not return home until nearly midnight on Wednesday, May 28, after spending long hours waiting to write the day’s papers.

Others were dismissed between 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m., depending on when the question papers arrived at their respective centres.

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) attributed the delays to efforts aimed at preventing exam question leaks.  

Students sat for the English Language examination that day, with the first paper reportedly beginning as late as 11:00 a.m.

“We just pray the students will pass. The fact that it was a core subject, English Language, makes it worse,” said a concerned mother and hairdresser in Warri. “My son’s school had to run a generator so they could write. He told me it’s an experience he’ll share with his children someday.”

Another parent, whose child wrote the exam near the railway tracks in the Uvwiama community of Agbarho, expressed fear not just over the academic impact but also the safety risks: “Apart from the fear of moving around so late, I was also afraid the children could be kidnapped.”