Stakeholders in the education sector said, the mass failure in the 2025 West Africa Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) stem from systemic issues attributed to the examination body, parents and the students
The stakeholders spoke in separate
interviews with NAN in Abuja yesterday.
Founder, Exam Ethics Marshall International (EEMI), Mr Ike Onyekere, faulted the systemic malpractice and deep-rooted corruption within Nigeria’s examination ecosystem.
NAN reports that the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) had revealed a sharp decline in performance in the 2025 SSE results compared to the previous year.
Out of a total of 1,969,313 candidates who sat for the examination across 23,554 schools, only 754,545 candidates, representing 38.32 per cent obtained a minimum of five credits, including English Language and Mathematics.
Onyechere decried the 38.32 per cent credit pass rate recorded in this year’s examinations as a “very poor result,”
He, however, noted that the decline was not unexpected due to challenges encountered during the exams.
According to him, there were serious logistical issues during the exams such as power outages, poor supervision, and lack of proper oversight which contributed to students’ poor showing.
“I am not surprised because, these logistical issues, as critical as they were, they were ignored during and after the exams.
“No person talked about how those kind of issues should be addressed in terms of how they affected the performance of those students.
“No person talked about what happened after their papers were collected from them, when they did finish their allotted time and when there was no light.
“So these are some of the questions we need to address,” he said.
Onyechere further criticised students’ growing reliance on “magic centres” and malpractice rings, arguing that many students no longer prepare sincerely for their examinations.
He said most of the students have their mind fixed on magic centres, and other forms of malpractices unfettered and with no consequences.
He accused WAEC and sister examination body of enabling malpractice by repeatedly failing to name and shame individuals and institutions complicit in exam fraud.
“Every year, WAEC releases statements saying schools were involved in malpractices but where are the names? Who are these schools? Who are the supervisors?
“They recycle these supervisors and protect them,” he said.