The National Examinations Council has said none of its papers in the ongoing Senior School Certificate Examinations is clashing with the day of this year’s Eid-al-Adha Muslim festival, which holds on July 9, 2022.
NECO spoke in a statement on Monday signed by Azeez Sani, its Head of the Information and Public Relations Division.
The statement said the examination body was conscious of the relevance and importance of religious festivals and has made adequate provisions for them in its examination timetable.
The examiner was reacting to an earlier appeal by a Muslim organisation, Muslim Rights Concern, which had on Sunday in a statement urged NECO to reconsider its position.
In his statement on Sunday, MURIC Director, Ishaq Akintola, a professor of Islamic Studies at the Lagos State University, Ojoo, said the organisation acknowledges the fact that NECO was not deliberate in its decision.
The statement read in part: “We are fully aware that the clash was not deliberate as NECO had actually demonstrated goodwill by setting aside a whole week for Sallah celebrations (Monday, 11th July to Friday 15th July) and this reflected in its timetable.
“We, therefore, appeal to the NECO authorities to kindly shift the examination of that day alone (Saturday 9th July 2022) to another date in order to enable its teeming Muslim candidates to sit for their examinations.”
In its statement on Monday, NECO said the clarification was necessary to ensure that Nigerians have access to correct information.
The report, it said, “is contrary to insinuations in some quarters that the Council has scheduled examination for 9 th July 2022, which is Sallah Day (Eid-Adha).
“The Council has given a whole examination free week, beginning from Friday, 8th July to Wednesday, 13th July 2022 in the ongoing Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) for School-based candidates to enable Muslim faithful have enough time to celebrate the festival.”
The examination body, which said that the 2022 edition of its school-based SSCE had commenced on June 27, noted that it will end on August 12.