Ahead of the commencement of the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for school candidates, the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has barred 574 schools from participating in its examinations over their alleged involvement in examination malpractice.
The Head of Nigeria’s National Office of the examination body, Amos Dangut, disclosed this on Thursday during a media briefing on preparations for the forthcoming WASSCE, which is scheduled to take place from 24 April to 20 June.
According to Mr Dangut, “A total of 574 schools have had their recognition withdrawn. This figure does not include those facing shorter sanctions of one or two years.”
He added: “We’ve revoked their licences and will not conduct exams in those schools. We no longer recognise them. All examination bodies have now taken a united stand against malpractice. If a school is reported for malpractice and is derecognised, their information would be shared with other sister bodies.
“I would also like to state here that centres that have been derecognised by our sister organisations, that is, other examining bodies, remain derecognised for us too. This is no longer the time when a derecognised centre will run to another examining body for undue recognition,” Mr Dangut said.
He reiterated that penalties for involvement in examination malpractice will always be meted out to erring candidates, supervisors, and schools without compromise, as would be approved by the Nigeria Examinations Committee (NEC), which is the highest decision-making organ of the Council that sits on examination matters in Nigeria.
To sensitise Nigerians, he noted that the council has rolled out several awareness campaigns and organised seminars and produced sensitisation materials like flyers, banners, and posters among others for school proprietors, principals, students and other key stakeholders.
Variation of papers
As part of efforts to combat the menace of examination malpractice, the HNO disclosed that WAEC has introduced its maiden Computer-Based WASSCE (CB-WASSCE) for school candidates from this year, where two candidates will not have same questions on each number.
According to him, the initiative is part of the paradigm shift in the education sector, particularly, the adoption of current test administration techniques geared towards upholding the academic and moral integrity of the National Policy on Education and in line with the vision of the Federal Ministry of Education.
“Candidates’ paper variations for the papers to be deployed for CB-WASSCE 2025 have been preprinted according to their registration details. Any candidate who chooses to write a paper other than the one assigned to him or her will be doing a disservice to himself or herself and will bear the attendant consequences,” he warned.
He urged parents and guardians to encourage their wards to study diligently and desist from engaging in any form of examination malpractice, even as he appealed to the various state ministries of education to call their principals, teachers and other officials serving as inspectors and/or supervisors to order.
He said: “School principals and teachers should sensitise their students to the dangers of this terrible crime against humanity. Every candidate and examination functionary should familiarise themselves with the rules guiding the conduct of the examination as stipulated in the WAEC syllabus and guidelines for the conduct of examinations, issued to schools.
“Erring schools whose candidates engaged in mass cheating will be derecognised; erring officials will be adequately punished, while erring candidates will be sanctioned if found culpable. Window for redress for candidates and schools who feel aggrieved with WAEC’s decision after the release of results may make representations through the website: https//waecinternational.org/complaints.”
Rogue website operators
Again, the council warned all operators of rogue websites that it will not condone their heinous acts during the conduct of the forthcoming examination.
It appealed to parents to caution their wards to desist from patronising these evildoers who are hell-bent on frustrating the efforts of WAEC. “They should have nothing to do with them, as that would only lead to the destruction of their children’s destiny. Meanwhile, we shall, as usual, work hand-in-hand with the Nigerian Police Force to bring perpetrators to book.
“There will be no hiding place for them. I am certain that those who were tracked down and brought to book last year would have chosen to stay out of trouble if they had known how prepared we are for them. The Council does not only conduct exam, but it’s also interested in the good performance of the candidates.
To assist the candidates prepare for the examination, the council said it recently added past questions paper and answers with Chief Examiners’ Report Booklets to aid candidates’ learning.
Statistics
Statistics shared by the HNO shows that a total of 1,973,253 candidates from 23,554 schools across Nigeria are expected to sit the exams.
Of the 1,973,253 candidates registered to sit the 2025 WASSCE, 979,228 (49.63 per cent) are male, while 994,025 (50.37 per cent) are female. The data shows an increase in the number of females and males, respectively, compared to last year.
“However, on the roll, the candidacy for this year increased by 158,627 candidates,” HNO said, adding that the candidates would be examined in 74 subjects, made up of 196 papers.
Preparedness
The HNO assured that all hands are on deck in ensuring that the conduct of WASSCE for school candidates, 2025, is hitch-free.
According to him, non-adherence to the registration deadline is still a lingering challenge in the preparation for examinations.
“The receipt of entries much later than the stipulated deadline translates to a lack of adequate planning, and this impacts negatively on the preparation of pre-examination, examination and post-examination materials,” he lamented.
He appealed to schools to adhere to the registration deadline proffered by the council.
As part of preparation for the conduct of the examinations, the HNO said about 26,000 practising senior secondary school teachers, nominated by various Ministries of Education, would be participating in the examination as supervisors.
Commenting on its readiness in the area of security, the council said it is partnering with the Nigeria Police Force through the Inspector General of Police and the various State Governments to provide adequate security to ensure the smooth and hitch-free conduct of the examination.
Release of results
The results of the candidates sitting the examination will be released 45 days after the conduct of the last paper, while awarded certificates will be printed and issued to schools in less than 90 days after the release of results, according to the HNO.
He added that candidates’ results will be released along with the digital copies of candidates’ certificates, which can be accessed on the Digital Certificate platform.