Politics
Backlash forces FG to suspend proposed WAEC, NECO fee hike
BARELY 72 hours after the reported approval of a sharp increase in the registration fees for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination WASSCE) and the National Examinations Council examination (NECO), the Federal Government has made a volte-face on the decision.
The suspension followed widespread outrage from parents, students, education stakeholders and opposition figures who warned that the policy would worsen Nigeria’s education crisis and deny thousands of children the opportunity to obtain secondary school certification.
The Federal Ministry of Education, in a statement on Monday, July 13, announced the withdrawal of its June 18 approval conveying the proposed upward review of examination fees for the 2027 WASSCE and NECO Senior School Certificate Examination, saying the decision had been put on hold to allow broader consultations with stakeholders before any final action is taken.
The ministry maintained that examination fees had remained largely unchanged despite increases in logistics, security, printing of confidential examination materials, technology deployment and quality assurance required to maintain the integrity of public examinations across the country.
It argued that the proposed review was informed by prevailing economic realities and the increasing operational costs associated with administering nationwide examinations.
The ministry said the proposal, which sought to harmonise the registration fees for both examinations at ₦50,000 per candidate, would no longer take effect as earlier communicated.
It added that the decision followed concerns raised by Nigerians over the impact the increase could have on access to education.
“The proposed review of examination registration fees will not take effect as earlier communicated, pending the conclusion of the consultation process,” the statement signed by the Director of Press and Public Relations, Folasade Boriowo, read.
The suspension came after intense criticism greeted the proposed increase, which would have seen candidates registering for WAEC pay about 81.8 per cent more than the current fee of ₦27,500, while NECO candidates would have paid 66.7 per cent above the existing ₦30,000 registration fee.
If implemented, every candidate sitting either examination from 2027 would pay ₦50,000, a development many parents argued was unrealistic at a time when households are already contending with soaring food prices, transportation costs, electricity tariffs and rising school expenses.
For families with multiple children preparing for the examinations, the financial implication would have been enormous. The ICIR reports that a household with four children writing the examinations would cough out ₦200,000 to pay the fees. This does not include tuition, textbooks, practical fees, lesson charges, uniforms and other school-related expenses.
The proposal
A memo approving the increase indicated that the Ministry of Education had acted on requests by examination bodies, particularly WAEC, which argued that the cost of conducting credible national examinations had risen significantly in recent years.
“‘’The West African Examinations Council has requested an upward review of examination fees for Senior School Certificate Examination for school candidates with effect from 2027.
“You may recall that at a meeting of examination bodies held with the Minister of Education on March 31, 2026, where the need for upward review of examination fee was discussed, the Minister of Education directed that the West African Examinations Council and the National Examinations Council should adopt a uniform fee for the conduct of WAEC and NECO SSCE.
“Consequently, I am directed to convey the Minister of Education’s approval of the sum of Fifty Thousand Naira (N50,000) only, as the new examination fee for candidates with effect from NECO SSCE internal 2027,” the memo read in part
Backlash
The proposal triggered widespread condemnation almost immediately after details of the approval became public.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar described the increase as economically insensitive and warned that it would further widen educational inequality in a country already battling one of the world’s highest numbers of out-of-school children.
He argued that while millions of Nigerian families were struggling with inflation, unemployment and declining purchasing power, imposing additional financial burdens on parents seeking to educate their children contradicted the government’s constitutional obligation to make education accessible.
According to him, education remains the most effective pathway out of poverty, and every additional financial barrier placed before children from poor households increases the likelihood that they would never complete their education.
The National Association of Nigerian Students also rejected the proposal, describing it as insensitive.
The students’ body alleged that the decision was reached without adequate consultation with students who would bear the consequences.
The association said increasing examination fees to ₦50,000 would impose additional hardship on families already grappling with the effects of ongoing economic reforms and urged the Federal Government to reverse the decision.
In the same development, the National Parent Teacher Association of Nigeria argued that while inflation had increased the cost of conducting examinations, an increase of almost 82 per cent for WAEC candidates was excessive and would make it difficult for many students to complete their secondary education.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M