The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) Nigeria has revoked the operating licences of 574 schools across the country found guilty of examination malpractices.
This is as the examination body warned that the schools will not be allowed to conduct examinations the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), which commences from Thursday, April 24, 2025.
This was disclosed by the Head of WAEC’s National Office, Dr. Amos Dangut during a press briefing on Thursday.
Speaking at the headquarters in Lagos, Dangut said WAEC had forwarded the list of the affected schools to the Federal Government.
He said, “This year, we have shared with them a total of 574 schools that have their recognition withdrawn. And that is also going to be the same for all examining bodies.
“So, these are those that have got their license revoked as far as the examination centre is concerned. So, we will not conduct examinations there. We don’t know them as far as conducting examinations.”
He pointed out that the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) will hold from Thursday, April 24, till Friday, June 20, 2025.
Dangut stated that 1,973,253 candidates registered for the examination from 23,554 schools.
Breaking down the numbers statistically, he stated that 979,228 were male while 994,025 were female candidates.
Dangut added that the number of candidates registration grew by 158,627. This is when compared to what was obtainable in 2024.
He noted that the WAEC was leveraging on technology to improve delivery. He pointed out the introduction of the maiden Computer-based West African Senior School Certificate Examination (CB-WASSCE) for the candidates.
“As an organization 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,” he said.
Dangut added that as part of the measures to uphold academics and moral integrity, candidates sitting for the examination will not have the same questions in each number.
He said, “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. That is geared towards upholding the academic and moral integrity of the National Policy on Education. Which is in line with the vision of the Federal Ministry of Education,” he said.
Dangut, however, raised concerns on insecurity. He assured of continued partnership with the police in various States to provide adequate security for smooth and hitch-free conduct of the examination.