Parents, teachers, higher institutions’ students body and other concerned persons have blamed the poor West African Senior School Certificate Examination, WASSCE, results on system failure.
Nigeria – Concern is growing over the sharp drop in performance in the 2025 WASSCE, as only 38.32% of candidates passed with at least five credits including English and Mathematics — a major decline from 72.12% in 202
Out of nearly 2 million candidates, fewer than 755,000 met the required benchmark. Education stakeholders have blamed the situation on poor infrastructure, lack of teachers, and the harsh conditions under which the exams were conducted.
Parents from states like Imo revealed that students wrote some papers late at night using candles or phone flashlights due to power outages.
The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) criticized the handling of leaked exam papers, which led to delayed schedules, while the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) cited technical challenges and emotional stress.
Parent groups also pointed to rising costs of learning materials and poor teacher welfare as key issues.
They called on government to invest more in schools, employ qualified teachers, and improve exam planning to avoid a repeat.
