Nigeria’s 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results have hit a 10-year low, with only 38.32 per cent of candidates passing the core subjects of English and Mathematics. The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) attributes the steep decline to a new anti-cheating strategy that made it harder for students to collude on objective tests.
Released on Monday, the results show a significant drop from the previous year’s 72.12 per cent pass rate. Of the nearly 2 million students who took the exam, only 754,545 earned the required credits. This marks the worst performance since 2014, when the pass rate was a mere 31.28 per cent.
According to Amos Dangut, WAEC’s Head of Nigeria Office, the new approach involved “serialising” objective test papers, a method that made exam malpractice more difficult. While scores on essay papers remained consistent with past years, the drop in objective test results signals that students must now rely more on their knowledge rather than on cheating.
Experts are calling for an overhaul of the entire education system, pointing to a lack of qualified teachers and proper facilities. Titus Ugboma, a Lagos school principal, noted that many private schools hire unqualified teachers for key subjects and that many schools lack essential resources like libraries and laboratories. Joy Umana, a teacher from Onitsha, believes both the government and students are to blame. She pointed out that students are often more focused on cheating than on studying, and that the government fails to shut down “miracle centres” known for exam malpractice.
Education analyst Kayode Abimbola urged the government to tighten regulations for new private schools and ensure qualified teachers are assigned to public schools, highlighting a widespread decline in educational standards across the country.
