The Lagos State Government has decried the continued poor performance of students in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and other external examinations, despite heavy investments in education.
The Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education Ministry, Tolani Alli-Balogun, expressed this concern during strategic meetings held across the six education districts in the state.
Alli-Balogun noted that the students’ results in external examinations have failed to reflect the state’s investment and commitment to education.
This came just before the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) announced on its X account (formerly Twitter) the release of results for the 2025 first series of the computer-based West African Senior School Certificate Examination (CB-WASSCE) for private candidates.
Commissioner charges principals
To address the declining performance of students, Alli-Balogun urged all principals in Lagos State to devise strategies for improvement.
In a statement issued on Friday by the Ministry’s Deputy Director, Public Affairs, Kayode Sutton, the commissioner called for a decisive shift, mandating that only academically qualified students be promoted to terminal classes.
He also urged them to end the long-standing practice of mass promotion, which according to him has not yielded positive results.
This measure, he explained, is expected to encourage intending final year students to take their studies more seriously, work harder, strive for excellence; and ultimately leading to improved standard and better academic outcomes in the state.
Beyond enforcing merit-based promotion, the Commissioner also called for immediate action to revive school activities that harness students’ natural learning abilities while enhancing their physical and mental well-being.
He directed schools to adopt interactive learning methods, including hands-on activities, experiments, creative arts, and sports, etc. to foster intellectual and physical well-being, teamwork, and mental discipline among students.
According to him, the goal is to promote holistic development and enrich the overall educational experience. “By reactivating these activities, schools can provide students with a well-rounded education that prepares them for success in all aspects of life,” he said.
Through these measures, the Lagos State Government aims to instill a culture of excellence and discipline, ensuring that students are well-prepared for academic success and future careers.
Candidates decry difficulties in checking WASSCE results
Following the release of the 2025 WASSCE results, some candidates have taken to social media to express frustration over difficulties in accessing their results via the WAEC portal.
A number of candidates reported encountering errors when attempting to check their results, particularly messages indicating that their result checker cards had already been used by another candidate, despite being newly purchased.
One of them, @jandon1006 posted a screenshot of an error message with the caption, “See error.”
Echoing similar concerns, @Ephrata_2, tweeted, “I check mine now they’re saying my card has been used by another candidate and this my first time using it. Why is that? I bought a scratch card, same thing. Please, I want you to reply to me and tell me what’s wrong with it, so I can make the next steps.”
Likewise, @Phillips__Moyin complained: “Tried using my card. Saying it has been used by another candidate. Which I am using for the first time.”
Another candidate, @abimbola631, questioned: “Why is it saying the result checker card has been used by someone else?” while @kinggrey455 posted, “Prompt: Card has been used by another user. When I obviously have not used it.”
Similarly, @kamal4real tweeted, “I think your system is malfunctioning…. it’s telling me my results card has been used by another candidate….. please how #gcewaecresult #waec.
“Please are you expecting us to repay the pin? By making your system automatically saying this nonsense….hell no assuming it’s even only me I will know it’s my problem but it’s all of my friends that we wrote this exam #waec #gceresult please correct this error on your system.”
