Seven students writing WASSCE in Gombe contract COVID-19

Seven students of Government Girls’ College, Doma, Gombe state, have tested positive for COVID-19.

The federal government had permitted schools to reopen partially on August 4 for graduating classes to write their examinations.

Speaking on Wednesday, Habu Dahiru, commissioner for education, said the government had conducted 1,100 tests on the final-year students following their resumption.

On Monday, an unnamed student of Government Science Secondary School (GSSS) in the state wrote his first paper for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) from the isolation centre.

The commissioner said the seven new patients are also candidates writing the WASSCE.

“We gave preference to students returning from epicentre states like Kaduna, Kano, Yobe and Lagos; those places that have registered high cases of COVID-19. So far, we have tested 1,100 cases, out of which the first case from Government Science Secondary School,” Dahiru said.

“He was immediately evacuated and isolated. He has written his first paper, Mathematics, and he is writing Agricultural Science today. It will be demoralising for him if we don’t allow him to write his exams.

“The government of Gombe state under the leadership of governor Inuwa Yahaya said all students found to be positive for the virus should be taken care of.

“We have identified another set of students. We only got the results yesterday. Seven of them have been found to test positive for the virus. We are making arrangements to evacuate them to the isolation centre.

“We will not allow them to miss their papers because they tested positive. The testing became easier because the governor approved N120 million to establish a molecular laboratory. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control has certified it and we have started testing in earnest.

“The samples taken from schools were tested here in Gombe at the molecular lab and results were shared. We quickly went to the school to identify the seven students and kept them aside.”