West African Examinations Council don announce on Monday say di performance of candidates for di 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination na di worst wey dem don see in ten years, and e don cause serious worry among people wey dey involved for education matter, because of how education dey go, how exam malpractice dey increase, and whether Nigeria ready for full digital exam.
As dem dey open di result, Head of National Office, WAEC Nigeria, Dr Amos Dangut, talk say na only 38.32 percent of di 1,969,313 candidates wey write di exam get credit and above for five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics. Di last time Nigeria get pass rate wey low pass 38.32 percent na for 2014, when only 31.28 percent get credit for at least five subjects, including English and Mathematics.
Since 2015, di pass rate don dey go up and down, but di 2025 result na sharp fall of 33.8 percent from di 72.12 percent pass rate wey dem record just last year. For di past ten years, di highest pass rate na 81.70 percent wey dem get for 2021. For 2015, di pass rate na 38.68 percent. For 2016, e be 52.97 percent; 2017 na 59.22 percent; 2018 na 48.15 percent; 2019 na 64.18 percent; and 2020 na 65.24 percent. From 2021 reach 2024, di pass rate no drop below 70 percent, until dem release di 2025 result on Monday wey fall well-well.
WAEC National Office Head don confirm say di result drop, and e talk say na because of new anti-malpractice measures wey dem put, like serialisation of questions. “Di drop for performance fit be because of new anti-malpractice measures, like how we take serialise objective papers for key subjects, wey make collusion and cheating hard,” he talk.
Dangut talk say di small drop for malpractice rate compared to last year na because dem introduce Computer-Based Testing for key subjects like English Language, Mathematics, Biology, and Economics. He talk say e dey worry how online platforms dey help exam fraud. “Students now dey depend on wetin dem dey call ‘expo’ from bad websites and social media platforms, many of dem dey deceive students or give old materials,” Dangut talk.
But he still talk say 451,796 results, wey be 22.94 percent, still dey process because of technical or administrative wahala. He still talk say dem hold 192,089 candidates result, wey be 9.75 percent, because dem suspect say dem do exam malpractice, na reduction from di 11.92 percent wey dem record for 2024. Even though few candidates pass with credit including English and Mathematics, Dangut talk say 1,718,090 candidates, wey be 87.24 percent, get credit and above for at least five subjects, whether English and Mathematics dey inside or not. He explain say for 2025, candidates fit choose to write di exam with pen and paper or use hybrid CBT model, wey question go show for screen and answer go dey for booklet.
Wetin make di drop for performance be say e happen one year before dem plan to fully change WASSCE to Computer-Based Testing by 2026, as Federal Government don give order. Dangut talk say WAEC dey finish arrangement to start full CBT WASSCE for school candidates by 2026.
This one dey happen as Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, for April don tell West African Examinations Council and National Examinations Council make dem start full Computer-Based Testing (CBT) for all their exams by 2026. But since that time, people wey sabi education matter don dey talk say di 2026 plan too rush and e no go work well. Dem dey worry because of di wahala wey happen for this year Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations, wey dem retake for some states because of wetin people call “glitches.”
This year WASSCE still get plenty wahala and people complain well-well because of how dem do English Language paper late night on May 28 for many states like Lagos, Ogun, Osun, and Taraba. Candidates dey write exam under candle, phone torch, and lantern, some even write pass midnight. People vex as parents and candidates begin fear say dem go fail because of how dem do di English Language exam.
WAEC talk say di reason why English Language paper delay na because question paper leak and dem try stop malpractice. As dem hear say question leak, WAEC say dem gatz reprint question paper, wey scatter their logistics. After di wahala, people begin call for cancellation and reschedule of di English paper, as dem accuse some WAEC officials say na dem leak di question. WAEC come start investigation to catch di officials wey leak di paper.
Just like WAEC, Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board own exam still get glitches. WAEC Acting Head of Public Affairs, Moyosola Adesina, talk say dem take steps to stop paper leak, but e affect di timing and how dem do di exam. She still talk say dem face logistics wahala, security palava, and sociocultural issues. People wey dey involved for education matter talk say di result wey dem release on Monday don raise question about di role of people wey dey involved for 2025 WASSCE and wetin e mean for di 2026 WASSCE wey dem wan do fully with CBT.
National President of Parents-Teachers Association of Nigeria, Haruna Danjuma, talk say this year result no good. He talk say na poor preparation by candidates cause am, and di teaching and learning environment no good, especially for public schools.
Danjuma talk say, “Di reason why this year result bad na because dem introduce computer-based exam. Some candidates no sabi computer, and CBT exam dey stop exam malpractice. Some students no prepare for exam. Public schools no get teaching and learning materials, and di environment no good for students and teachers.”
Former director of Distance Learning Centre, University of Ibadan, Prof Francis Egbokhare, talk say di way students dey fail external exams show say Nigeria no dey put correct attention for education and di quality don spoil. He talk say teachers no good, and infrastructure no dey to prepare students well.
Egbokhare talk say, “This one show say education quality don spoil. Instead make we train teachers and pay dem well, we dey focus on curriculum review, age to enter university and how school system dey change every time. No education system fit better pass di quality of teachers and infrastructure. We dey distracted by technology, AI and CBT exams like say dem go replace good teaching.”
Egbokhare talk say di wahala dey everywhere, especially as school graduates dey turn illiterate, worse for public schools. “One danger now be say our basic school graduates dey turn illiterate, many no fit read text. If you check writing assignment even for university level, you go wan cry because dem no dey follow basic rules of punctuation and capitalisation, like Okada riders for traffic.
“If you check percentage of students wey pass, na private schools dem dey come from, where teachers dey help or instruction dey better. Public schools don spoil. Di teachers no fit pass di exam demself, so when dem help students, dem still fail. We dey see real-time decay, and e dey affect every part of life for Nigeria,” Egbokhare talk.
Project Lead, Safe Schools, Lagos, Dr Bisi Akin-Alabi, agree with wetin WAEC talk, say di new measures like serialisation of objective papers for key subjects make cheating hard, so students gatz depend on their own effort. She talk say na double wahala for students wey no prepare and dey depend on malpractice and leaked questions.
Akin-Alabi talk say, “Di drop for performance na because of strict exam rules wey WAEC put to stop malpractice, like how dem serialise objective papers for key subjects. Di Anti-Malpractice Measures make cheating hard, so students gatz depend on their own effort. Another reason na poor preparation. Most students dey depend on ‘expo’ (leaked questions), so dem disappoint when dem meet real exam.”
Akin-Alabi wey be former Special Adviser on Education for Oyo State still talk say CBT option shock many students wey no sabi use digital tools. Even with all di new measures, she talk say exam malpractice still be big wahala. She say teachers gatz prepare students well instead of depending on leaks and cheating.
“She talk say di drop show say we gatz face di real problem wey dey affect student performance, like better preparation and stop cheating. Teachers and schools gatz serious with teaching and learning, and use AI-assisted learning wey be di way forward. We gatz learn from developed countries how to prepare students for external exams without spoil di exam with malpractice and expo,” Akin-Alabi talk.
