Students Write English Exam Till 9:50 PM
ABNews Reports – A wave of anxiety swept through communities on Monday evening as parents and guardians were thrown into panic when their children failed to return home hours after their scheduled English Language examination. Some students did not arrive home until 9:50 p.m., while others remained unaccounted for at the time of this report.
ABNews gathered that the English Language examination comprised three papers. According to affected students, the first and second papers concluded around 2:05 p.m., after which the third paper was expected to commence shortly. However, an unexpected delay stretched into the night, leaving students stranded in exam halls for hours.
In a chat with ABNews, Eniola Agboola, a student, said, “We finished the first and second paper around 2:05. Normally, the third paper should follow, but we waited endlessly. They later told us the paper had changed. It wasn’t until about 8 p.m. that we started the third paper, and there was no light in the classroom. We had to sit on the floor where we could find some brightness.”
Mrs. Abodunde, a staff member at a school in Ogun State, lamented to ABNews correspondent over the phone, that the delay was due to the late arrival of the exam papers. She had to drop off the students at their respective homes and didn’t return to her own residence until around 10:30 p.m.
Kabir Adewale, another student, lamented the long wait and lack of proper conditions. “We were hungry and confused. They made us wait for hours without explanation. When they finally gave us the new paper, it was dark already. It was very hard to concentrate,” he said.
Speaking with some teachers on the ground, ABNews learned that the delay was allegedly due to a leakage of the original question paper, prompting a last-minute change in exam materials. “The exam body instructed us to hold off on the third paper while they sent new versions due to suspected leakage. That’s why the students had to wait so long,” one teacher revealed.
The situation left many parents and guardians distressed. Some gathered at school gates and nearby junctions in the evening, making calls, searching for their children, and demanding answers from school staff.
Mrs. Alaba Olatunde, a parent, told ABNews in frustration: “We expected our children back home since 4 p.m., but by 9 p.m., we hadn’t heard from them. No parent should go through this fear. What if something bad had happened?”
Another student, Mariam Yusuf, described the atmosphere during the delay as tense and frightening. “Some students were crying. We didn’t feel safe. There was no power supply, and sitting on the floor to write an exam is just not right.”
At the time of filing this report, some students were still not back in their respective homes, raising safety concerns, especially for those living in distant areas with limited evening transportation.
ABNews calls on the State Ministry of Education and examination authorities to urgently investigate this disturbing occurrence, address the concerns of parents, and ensure that no student is subjected to such conditions in future examinations.
