The Federal Authorities’s directive to transition the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the Nationwide Examinations Council (NECO) to full Pc-Primarily based Testing (CBT) by 2026 has stirred reactions throughout Nigeria’s schooling sector.
Whereas the initiative is seen by some as a step in direction of digital development, critics argue that the nation’s colleges, significantly in rural areas, are nowhere close to prepared for the abrupt transition.
The plan, unveiled by the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, outlines that each one goal questions shall be administered through CBT ranging from November 2025.
By Might/June 2026, each WAEC and NECO examinations, together with essay and principle papers, shall be carried out totally on pc platforms.
Based on the Minister, the purpose is to curb examination malpractice and align Nigeria’s schooling evaluation with worldwide digital requirements.
However the transfer has sparked widespread concern about feasibility, infrastructure gaps, digital literacy, and the overall readiness of colleges.
A senior lecturer at Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Dr. Felix Echekoba, talking to Nairametrics, described the choice as hasty and disconnected from Nigeria’s on-ground realities.
“We’re in an excessive amount of of a rush. That is precisely how the 6-3-3-4 schooling system collapsed — no correct groundwork was accomplished earlier than rollout,” he mentioned.
He went additional to hyperlink the coverage to a broader decline in academic outcomes, citing the current drop in Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) cut-off marks as proof.
“Years in the past, the JAMB cut-off mark was 200 and above. At the moment, we’re speaking about 190 and in some instances even decrease and but, many college students nonetheless battle to fulfill it. That alone ought to inform you one thing concerning the state of our schooling. Now you wish to change to CBT throughout the board with out fixing the muse?”
He expressed fears that the identical destiny awaits the CBT initiative if the federal government fails to put a strong basis earlier than implementation.
Dr. Echekoba drew consideration to the absence of primary infrastructure in lots of public colleges. He questioned the viability of conducting computer-based exams when most colleges don’t have entry to regular electrical energy, web entry or functioning pc labs.
“Most public colleges in Nigeria don’t have electrical energy, web, not to mention computer systems or educated ICT workers. CBT requires energy, web, and digital literacy. These are nonetheless luxuries in many colleges, particularly outdoors the city centres,” he mentioned.
Based on Dr. Echekoba, some personal colleges, in an try to organize for the digital shift, have begun mandating mother and father to purchase laptops for his or her kids.
He criticized the federal government for putting accountability on mother and father and colleges with out first constructing nationwide infrastructure.
The principal of a authorities secondary college in Ebonyi State, Mr. Fidelis Okoro (Not actual identify), supplied a extra optimistic however cautious view in an interview with Nairametrics.
Based on him, the implementation of CBT might be profitable if restricted to goal questions alone.
“Full implementation is probably not attainable. Topics are voluminous. What would they do with practicals, diagrams, specimens, and different visible components? Not all topics will be adequately examined utilizing solely computer-based codecs,” he famous.
The principal famous that state governments may step in to supply colleges with computer systems, however warned in opposition to putting the burden on mother and father.
“Some mother and father in rural areas don’t even personal Android telephones. How can they afford laptops or desktop methods for his or her kids?” he requested. “Directing each mother or father to convey a pc system isn’t life like,” he famous.
Mr. Okoro identified that many secondary colleges in Nigeria have fewer than 300 college students, making a phased or school-based CBT setup probably manageable.
He additionally famous that many public secondary colleges have already employed pc lecturers, so coaching capability just isn’t the first downside. As a substitute, infrastructure and accessibility stay the larger challenges.
Dr. Echekoba raised security considerations concerning the dangers concerned in conducting CBT exams at centralized centres, particularly as college students are required to go away their houses as early as 4:00 or 5:00 a.m.
He referenced the lately concluded 2025 UTME, the place candidates have been anticipated to reach at centres by 6:30 a.m., regardless of Nigeria’s rising insecurity challenges.
“You possibly can’t ask kids to go away their houses by 6:30 a.m. in at present’s safety local weather simply to sit down for an examination,” Echekoba warned.
He additionally recounted experiences from current CBT centres used for UTME, the centres battle with delays and technical points in the course of the exams.
On addressing safety dangers and logistical constraints, Mr. Okoro proposed a scalable answer, the federal government set up CBT centres in each native authorities space to scale back journey dangers.
A Lagos state secondary college principal Mr. Sunday Akintunde (not actual identify), expressed his reservations concerning the implementation.
A Lagos state secondary college principal Mr. Sunday Akintunde (not actual identify), expressed his reservations concerning the implementation.
He famous that current CBT centres, designed primarily for JAMB, lack the capability to deal with the quantity of WAEC or NECO candidates.
