The National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB) in June this year held a national webinar on the level of preparedness for the conduct of its 2020 in-school certificate examinations amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The online seminar followed the COVID-19 pandemic-induced postponement of the May/June 2020 certificate examinations which lead to the award of the National Business Certificate (NBC) and the National Technical Certificate (NTC).
It was indeed a proactive response to getting the stakeholders ready for the execution of one of the Board’s functions by the NABTEB Registrar/Chief Executive, Prof. Ifeoma M. Isiugo-Abanihe and members of her Management team in a period of global uncertainty.
The theme of the webinar, which was held in six series for the six geo-political zones of the country, was “Assessing the Level of Preparedness for 2020 In-School NBC/NTC Examinations amid COVID-19 Pandemic”.
Participants included the coordinators of the Board in the six geo-political zones and the state officers/coordinators in the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
The thematic pre-occupation of the webinar was exemplified in the Registrar/Chief Executive’s opening remark when she said its purpose was “to assess and discuss the level of preparedness of the various states regarding registration and conduct of the 2020 in-school NBC/NTC examinations during this period of COVID-19 pandemic”.
Prof. Isiugo-Abanihe recalled that the Board was at the edge of closing registration for certificate examinations when all schools were directed to close and movements across the country restricted by the Federal Government. She said although the development obviously disrupted the registration, the process was still on-going.
The NABTEB Chief Executive advised the staff to encourage schools and centres to enrol candidates. She wished the participants fruitful deliberation while urging them to keep safe and maintain healthy behaviour.
State officers/coordinators made presentations centring on improving the quality of the Board’s examinations.
In her closing remark at the end of the six-series online seminar, the NABTEB Registrar/Chief Executive, Prof. Ifeoma M. Isiugo-Abanihe described the presentations as exciting and stimulating, saying the Management had noted the issues that were raised in them.
She urged the zone/state coordinators to work with their respective state Ministry of Education, and schools and examination centres to find out their preparedness for the holding of the examinations.
Prof. Isiugo-Abanihe further called on Heads of Department to complete the relevant activities of their department for the examinations, just she enjoined field officers to redouble their efforts in preparation for the conduct of the examinations when the lockdown occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic is eventually eased.
The NABTEB Registrar reminded all staff to be security conscious in the course of discharging their duties and to do their best to ensure that they comply with COVID-19 safety guidelines.
