WAEC BARS 574 SCHOOLS FROM 2025 EXAMS AS WASSCE BEGINS
THE West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has revoked the examination centre status of 574 secondary schools across Nigeria over alleged involvement in examination malpractice.
While the council has not publicly listed the affected schools, they are likely among the over 22,000 schools that registered candidates in the 2024 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) cycle.
During a press briefing on Thursday, April 17, at WAEC’s national headquarters in Lagos State, the Head of the National Office, Amos Dangut, said the decision followed confirmed reports of widespread malpractice in the affected schools.
He noted that the list of de-registered schools had been submitted to the Federal Government for further action.
He said, “574 schools are those ones that have got their licences revoked as far as examination centre is concerned. So, we will not conduct examinations there. We don’t know them as far as the conduct of examination is concerned.
“All centres that have been found culpable in examination malpractice and have been sanctioned by a particular examining body, that sanction will be upheld by other examination bodies. So, if a school is reported for malpractice and is still recognised, the information will be shared with other examination bodies,” he said.
This announcement came just a few days before the 2025 WASSCE is set to commence on April 24.
A total of 1,973,253 candidates, comprising 979,228 males and 994,025 females, are expected to sit for the examination across 23,554 schools nationwide, according to Dagut.
Dagut further stressed that the candidates’ registration rose by over 150 candidates compared to last year.
The ICIR reports that 1,814,344 candidates registered for the 2024 WASSCE for school candidates.
The candidates were drawn from 22,229 schools across the nation.
“A total of 1,814,344 candidates from 22,229 schools have registered for the examination. Out of this number, 902,328 are males, amounting to 49.73 per cent, while 912,016 are females, which is 50.27 per cent of the candidates.
“The statistics show a further increase in the number of females and males, respectively, compared to last year. However, on the whole, the candidature for this year increased by 192,948,” Dagut had reportedly said.
Despite the 574 schools barred from hosting the exams, a comparative analysis shows that this year’s number of registered schools represents an increase of only 1,325 schools from the previous year.
Meanwhile, Dagut, on Thursday, noted that the body was leveraging on technology to improve delivery, noting the introduction of Computer-based West African Senior School Certificate Examination (CB-WASSCE).
“As an organisation that believes in the use of modern Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to solve myriads of problems as well as improve service delivery to the Nigerian child, the Council has introduced its maiden Computer-based West African Senior School Certificate Examination (CB-WASSCE) for School Candidates, 2025.
“It will interest you to know that from this year, two candidates will not have the same questions on each number. We have adopted this innovation for some of the WASSCE codes.
“This 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,” he added.
