Should JAMB, NECO & WAEC Be Scrapped? Here’s Why Many Believe It’s Time for a Change

Minister Vows Fairness & Inclusivity in WAEC, NECO CBT Rollout — Big Changes Ahead!

In a country grappling with an escalating education crisis, it is necessary to ask tough questions about the true impediments that lie between Nigerian children and their right to a great education. One such barrier is the trio of high-stakes examinations—JAMB, NECO, and WAEC—which have evolved over time from academic assessment tools to barriers that keep many young Nigerians from achieving the future they deserve.

The registrar of JAMB’s recent public apologies for the deletion of over 300,000 applicants from the 2024 UTME results is a clear indication of systemic failure. For a country that already has over 18 million out-of-school children, such an administrative blunder is a national humiliation.

It erodes public trust in a system designed to open doors, not lock them.

Beyond administrative errors, these exams are quickly becoming financial burdens that many families cannot afford. In thousands of Nigerian homes, the cost of registering for WAEC and NECO is now competing with basic survival requirements. When a youngster is forced to drop out of school simply because his or her parents cannot afford an exam, the institution has failed in its primary objective. This issue is particularly acute in rural and low-income regions, where dropout rates are skyrocketing as examination fees continue to grow unabated.

The problem is exacerbated by policy directions that are entirely out of touch with reality on the ground. NECO’s announcement to shift to computer-based testing (CBT) by 2025 appears progressive on paper, but it is dangerously distant from students’ actual experiences in public schools. How can we discuss CBT when many schools do not even have a working computer lab, let alone a reliable power supply? How can we expect kids who do not have access to digital devices to participate fairly in these exams?

Should JAMB, NECO & WAEC Be Scrapped? Here’s Why Many Believe It’s Time for a Change — WAEC Timetable 2025/2026

The same problem has long plagued JAMB, which has continued to send students to distant centers, sometimes hundreds of kilometers away from their homes, in places where insecurity is rampant. Many candidates confront not just logistical problems but also physical and psychological hardship in order to complete a two-hour exam that may not accurately reflect their academic abilities. This isn’t education; it’s exclusion.

Other countries with similar socioeconomic issues have adopted more inclusive and student-friendly policies. Several African and Asian countries have used a centralized, school-based continuous assessment paradigm in which pupils are evaluated continuously over time rather than by a single, high-stakes exam. This provides for a more comprehensive and equitable assessment of students’ abilities while also reducing the pressure and barriers that standardized exams frequently impose.

If we are serious about lifting children out of poverty and reducing the number of out-of-school youths, we must remove the structural and financial obstacles that stand in their way.

If we are serious about raising children out of poverty and reducing the number of out-of-school kids, we must eliminate the structural and financial barriers that stand in their way.

It’s time to put an end to this fantasy. Let us abandon what is no longer effective and begin to establish an education system that gives every child a fair and fighting opportunity.