Between 2018 and 2024, state governments, parents, and guardians spent over N122 billion on the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), but the candidates’ pass rate has been poor. The absence of facilities/instructional materials, dearth of qualified teachers, and poor foundation (at the primary school level), among others, contribute to the larger problem of education decline, IYABO LAWAL reports.
Last April, to the chagrin of millions of Nigerians, the Lagos State government announced that 31,596 out of 56,134 students from public secondary schools failed the 2024 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
The failure rate made a mockery of the N1.57 billion that the state government claimed it spent on enrolling students for the examination, as more than half of the candidates failed the examination despite the investment. Of course, this development has raised serious concerns about the quality of education and students’ preparedness.
But beyond the money spent, signs of impending widespread failure had been visible for years. However, to put the latest crisis in perspective, the failure rate in the 2024 WASSCE was 54.3 per cent, while the pass rate stood at 45.7 per cent. That could be considered an expensive failure given the N1.57 billion spent by the state government to cover examination fees for the students.
In the 2023 WASSCE, the situation was the same, as over 52 per cent of candidates who wrote the examination failed, after which the state government recruited 4,300 teachers between 2023 and 2024 while claiming to be “on top of the matter.”
Lagos students’ failure rate in 2022 was 23.64 per cent, and 21.3 per cent in 2021. It is generally understood that the 2020 figures were close to those of 2021 before the decline observed in subsequent years.
As of 2020, Nigeria’s human capital index, according to the World Bank, stood at 0.36, making it 168th out of 173 countries. The country ranked 152nd out of 157 nations. This is not good news.
Beyond its fleeting glorious past, Nigeria’s education system has been in the doldrums for decades. Nationally, in 2024, 18 million candidates wrote the examination with a pass rate of 72.12 per cent, and a failure rate of 27.88 per cent. Year-on-year, that is a 7.69 per cent decrease in pass rate from 2023.
The pass rate is defined as candidates obtaining credit (C6) or better in at least five subjects, including English language and mathematics. In the 2024 results, a significant number of candidates’ results were withheld as a result of their alleged involvement in malpractice.
In the last five years, state governments, parents, and guardians have spent at least N122 billion on the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), with mixed results to show for the humongous expenditure.
In 2018 alone, with the WAEC examination fee fixed at N13,950 and 1.57 million candidates in public schools sitting the SSCE, parents, governments, and guardians spent N22.02 billion on the examination.
In 2019, the number of candidates rose to 1.59 million, pushing the spending on the examination to N22.18 billion, and N21.6 billion in 2020, as the number of candidates who registered for the examination dropped to 1.54 million.
In 2021, the WAEC examination fee was increased to N18,000 per candidate. That year, 1.56 million SSCE candidates sat the examination in public schools, and this pushed the total expenditure of governments and parents to N28.08 billion.
In 2022, the number of candidates who registered for the exam rose to 1.6 million, leaving the total payment for the examination at N28.8 billion.
Therefore, the total amount expended on SSSCE by between 2018 and 2024 amounted to N122.73 billion.
Discordant results amid rising cost of examination
IN the 2022 WASSCE, a total of 1.6 million candidates sat the examination. Out of this, 1.22 million candidates representing 76.36 per cent obtained credit passes, and above in a minimum of five subjects, including English language and mathematics.
The May/June 2021 Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSCE) recorded an “unprecedented” success rate, with 1.27 million candidates, representing 81.7 per cent of the 1.56 million securing credit passes in five subjects, including English language and mathematics.
Before the 2020 WASSCE, many expressed genuine concerns that final-year students of secondary school would flunk the exam as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted learning globally, with several states across Nigeria ill-prepared to continue to provide academic instructions to students virtually.
The WASSCE, which is usually held in May/June, was rescheduled to August/September of 2020 because schools were shut for almost four months to halt the frightening spread of COVID-19.
However, the SSCE results of that year did not reflect the struggles that students and the larger society endured. The examination results showed that 1.5 million candidates registered from 19,129 recognised secondary schools in the country, and the results showed that 1.33 million, representing 86.99 per cent, obtained credit and above in a minimum of five subjects, with or without English language and/or mathematics.
Of the 1.59 million candidates that sat for the 2019 examination, 64.18 per cent obtained five credits, including mathematics and English. This was a 14.18 per cent increase from the 50 per cent of the previous year.
In 2018, 49.98 per cent of 1.57 million who sat for the examination obtained credits and above in a minimum of five subjects, including English language and mathematics.
Failure despite huge spending
THE high failure rate in Nigeria’s May/June SSCE is due to several factors. Indeed, the poor quality of education in many public schools significantly contributed to the mass failure.
While many schools need more facilities, instructional materials, and qualified teachers, the poor foundation at the primary school level also contributes to the larger problem. Factors such as overburdening home activities, poor parental involvement, and ineffective teaching by unqualified teachers have been identified as critical reasons for the mass failures.
Another significant factor is the government’s refusal to adequately invest in, and reform the education sector. Frequent policy changes, inadequate infrastructure, and teacher training funding, as well as a lack of oversight, have all contributed to the decline in education standards.
Additionally, WAEC has reported a fluctuating trend of mass failure, with some years seeing over 70 per cent of candidates failing to get the minimum five credits, including English and mathematics.
This suggests systemic issues beyond just the students’ performance. In summary, the mass failure in Nigeria’s SSCE is a complex problem rooted in the poor state of the country’s education system, lack of government commitment, and various socio-economic factors affecting both students and schools.
Raising the bar
ACCORDING to stakeholders, several measures can be taken to reduce failure in WASSCE, prominent among which are improving teacher training and qualification, and ensuring that they are qualified to handle their subjects effectively.
A retired school principal, Dr Olakojo Odewale, listed some of the measures to include the provision of continuous professional development opportunities to enhance their skills, improved infrastructure for conducive learning environments, as well as the provision of instructional materials.
Additionally, Odewale noted that well-equipped classrooms, libraries, and laboratories should be provided to support effective teaching and learning.
He said: “The government should ensure the provision of adequate instructional materials and resources; increase parental involvement and support by encouraging them to actively participate in their children’s education through regular meetings and counselling. Parents should also foster a culture of academic support and encouragement at home.”
In the same vein, the proprietor of Greater Heights School, Ojodu, Lagos, Margaret Harrison, stressed the need for the government to vigorously pursue curriculum and teaching methods reform, in addition to implementing a more practical and engaging curriculum that meets students’ needs.
Harrison emphasised the need to encourage discovery methods, group activities, and problem-based learning to improve student engagement and understanding while addressing classroom factors.
Maintaining a teacher-pupil ratio of 1:40, as recommended in the National Policy on Education, he said, “will allow teachers to be well-rested and have sufficient time to prepare and assess students.”
A public analyst, Anthony Davies, enjoined the government to prioritise education funding, ensure that funds are effectively utilised, and regularly evaluate and reform educational policies to address systemic issues.
Davies also urged the government to implement regular assessments and provide constructive feedback to students so as to track their progress and identify areas for improvement.
Experts also charged the government with the need to address socio-economic factors like poverty and other issues that affect students’ ability to focus on their education.
They noted that implementing these measures can significantly reduce the failure rate in SSCE and help students achieve better academic outcomes.
Malpractice, not best practice, reigns
Examination malpractice has become a thorn in the flesh of the country’s examination bodies because measures previously taken failed to yield expected results.
But in their determination to quell the menace, the examination bodies stipulated punishments against anyone caught in the act. The sanctions include cancellation of candidates’ results, barring of candidates from the examinations, and derecognition of schools, among others.
Even the four-year jail term enacted in Nigerian law is as good as the others. The then council spokesperson, Evelyn Kandakai, registered her displeasure while highlighting the consequences of examination malpractice on national and sub-regional development. She described it as “destructive,” and what is more painful is that parents have become part and parcel of the education corruption.
A former President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), Archbishop Alaba Job, blamed the government for the rot in the education system. He urged the government to address spiritual and moral deficiencies plaguing the country’s education system.
“In 1984, my message to the nation was that if our educational system remained what it was, sooner or later, our children would not be able to know the difference between what is right and what is wrong. And it has come to pass,” said Job.
Last November, the Nigerian Academy of Education (NAE) called on President Bola Tinubu to declare a state of emergency in the sector to holistically address the decadence in the system. It urged the federal government to stay out of the running of secondary schools, and as such, hand over the 115 unity colleges to states with comprehensive conditions.
