Nigeria’s educational sector might witness a significant drop in its profit margin, with the Federal Government halting students in Senior Secondary School one and two from participating in external West African Senior School Certificate Examination, WASSCE; the National Examination Council, NECO; and National Business and Technical Examinations Board, NABTEB.
This development when fully implemented will significantly crash the number of students registering for the examinations, and further reduce the income for both WAEC and Nigeria’s educational sector.
Candidates pay a registration fee of N13,950, at branches of any accredited bank, agent and obtain the Registration PIN and Information VCD
Among the five West African countries taking the examination, (Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and the Gambia) Nigeria produced the highest candidacy.
With development by the ministry, the number of students registering for the examination will significantly drop since most parents use the opportunity to register their ward.
For instance, statistics obtained from the body shows that, in 2017, 1.56 million Nigerians registered for the exam, the number increased to 1.57 million in 2018.
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The number of candidates rises further to 1.59 million in 2019 and declined in 2020 to 1.54 million due to the challenges of COVID-19. The number of students registration rise to 1.6 million this year.
Similarly, NECO an examination body in Nigeria that conducts the Senior Secondary Certificate Examination and the General Certificate in Education would be the major hit, as students of lower classes use it as an opportunity to meet up with others ahead of them.
Meanwhile, in a circular issued to principals of federal unity schools by the Federal Ministry of Education and signed by the ministry’s Director, Senior Secondary Education, Hajia Binta Abdulkadir, it read, “The ministry’s attention has been drawn to the flagrant disregard to its directive on (the) writing of external examinations such as NABTEB (NTC and NBC), WASSCE, NECO (SSCE) by SS1 and SS2 students.
“Students who are involved in the practice find it difficult to settle down on serious studies. They become unruly and distract other students from achieving their goals.
“Any student caught to have written any of the above examinations in SS1 or SS2 classes will be expelled from the college. All students must write these examinations after they have been duly registered for the examination by the college.
“All students of Federal Unity College should adhere strictly to the content of this circular. And Principals are advised to bring the content of this circular to the knowledge of all parents of the college.”
