WASCE: Thriving on a rigged education system?

August 21, 2025 by Our Reporter

• By John Amabolou Elekun

Sir: The release of the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASCE) results has left the country’s education system at a crossroads. At the heart of the controversy is the English Language paper, the foundation of every student’s academic and professional future.

When the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) first announced the results, only 38 per cent of candidates had passed English. The figure was alarming, but it reflected what many educators already knew: the collapse of teaching standards, underfunded schools, and the lingering effects of years of instability.

However, without explanation, WAEC revised the pass rate upward, to 62 per cent.

When WAEC announced the 38 per cent pass rate, Nigerians may have been shocked, but they were not surprised. For years, teachers, parents, and students have been warning that the quality of learning is deteriorating. Poorly trained teachers, overcrowded classrooms, and lack of resources all point toward declining outcomes.

But when WAEC suddenly inflated the pass rate to 62 per cent, it crossed from bad performance into outright betrayal. A 24 per cent surge cannot be explained by “review processes” or “standardisation”. It can only be explained by deliberate score manipulation designed to save face.

Institutions live or die on trust. WAEC is supposed to be a guardian of merit and fairness. Instead, it chose deception. By rewriting failure as success, it undermines its own credibility and robs students of the one thing they desperately need: the assurance that hard work counts.

Beyond the numbers, the very conditions under which many candidates sat for the English paper were degrading. Reports abound of students forced to write late at night, under poor lighting, sometimes in classrooms without electricity. Others faced overcrowding, noise, or intimidation from invigilators.

This is not just inconvenience; it is malpractice. How can a child be expected to interpret literature or construct an essay under conditions where they can barely see the question paper? In such circumstances, the exam stops being a measure of knowledge and becomes a test of endurance. And endurance, as every Nigerian knows, is not distributed equally. Rural students, already disadvantaged by weaker schools, were hit hardest.

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WAEC cannot claim to be measuring merit while presiding over chaos. If fairness means anything, then the only just solution is a properly supervised re-sit of English Language — and any other tainted subjects — for all 2025 candidates.

This scandal cannot be allowed to fade into silence. The National Assembly has a duty to act. A legislative inquiry must be launched into the conduct of the 2025 WAEC English Language exam. Nigerians deserve answers to the following questions: Who authorised the revision of the pass rate? What processes were followed, and were they transparent? How can we ensure such manipulation never happens again?

An independent audit of the results — with credible observers at the table — is essential. More broadly, the lawmakers must establish stronger oversight of WAEC. An institution with so much power over the futures of young Nigerians cannot be left to police itself.

Education is the foundation of every society. It is where we decide whether to build citizens who trust their institutions or citizens who reject them. Nigeria cannot afford to keep failing at this foundation.

The way forward is clear, and it demands urgency. The following steps must be taken to save the country’s educational system: WAEC must organise fresh English Language papers, and any other affected subjects, under transparent and humane conditions; government should provide immediate counselling services for affected candidates; an external review of the marking and grading process must be conducted, with independent observers; the National Assembly must take responsibility for monitoring WAEC’s operations and holding it accountable; and never again should students be subjected to exams in darkness, noise, or intimidation. Fairness must be non-negotiable.

The credibility of Nigeria’s education system is hanging by a thread. WAEC cannot be allowed to escape accountability for the 2025 English exam fiasco. The numbers may have been revised, but the damage is real: to the confidence of our children, to the trust of parents, and to the integrity of our institutions.

If Nigeria is serious about building a future, it must begin by protecting the credibility of its education system. Our children deserve honesty, fairness, and dignity. To deny them that is to rob the nation itself.

•John Amabolou Elekun,

Lagos