The release of the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) results by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has sent ripples across Nigeria’s educational landscape.
With only 38.32% of candidates obtaining credit-level passes in five core subjects including English Language and Mathematics, a dramatic fall from 72.12% in 2024, the figures paint a grim picture. This isn’t just a drop; it is an academic crisis, and a shocking decline in performance.
More than just numbers, the 2025 WASSCE results reflect deeply rooted systemic failures, underfunded schools, untrained teachers, compromised infrastructure, growing inequality between public and private education, rising malpractice, and a widening disconnect between education and national development. This article takes a comprehensive look at what went wrong, the implications for the country, and urgent reforms needed to reposition Nigerian education.
A. Understanding the Numbers: A Statistical Snapshot
WAEC’s Head of National Office, Mr. Amos Dangut, confirmed that out of 1,969,313 candidates who sat the 2025 WASSCE, only 754,545 obtained five credits including English and Mathematics, barely above one-third. This figure represents a 33.8 percentage point drop compared to the previous year, which recorded a pass rate of 72.12%.
The gender breakdown was almost even, with 49.60% male and 50.40% female candidates. Female students slightly outperformed their male counterparts, particularly in languages and literature—a trend increasingly noted in recent years. However, this mild success is overshadowed by the nationwide decline in overall performance.
Equally troubling is the high number of withheld results—262,803 candidates (13.34%)—linked to suspected examination malpractice. In addition, 451,796 candidates (22.94%) still have one or more results pending, creating uncertainty for nearly a quarter of all candidates.
B. Why the Sharp Decline? A Multi-Layered Crisis
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- Tougher Anti-Malpractice Measures
One of the primary reasons cited by WAEC is its new serialisation of objective questions in core subjects. This strategy—intended to deter cheating—likely exposed the actual academic capabilities of many candidates. While this is a step in the right direction, it also laid bare a bitter truth: many students have been relying on systemic collusion rather than true understanding.
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- Inadequate Teaching and Learning Resources
Most public schools continue to operate in resource-starved environments. From outdated textbooks to overcrowded classrooms and untrained or underpaid teachers, the system is designed to fail. The lack of laboratories, libraries, and ICT access, especially in rural areas, stifles experiential learning and innovation.
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- Neglect of Continuous Assessment (CASS)
WAEC officials highlighted challenges with the timely submission of students’ Continuous Assessment Scores. In an ideal education system, assessments should be holistic, capturing a student’s performance over time. However, the failure of schools to adhere to timelines reflects a broader dysfunction in internal school administration and government oversight.
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- Economic and Logistical Barriers
Inflation has significantly increased the cost of education—textbooks, exam fees, transportation, and even feeding. Many students come to school hungry, tired, or irregularly. Add to that logistical hitches like the delay in conducting papers in certain centres, and you find a system increasingly hostile to learning.
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- Disparity Between Private and Public Education
Private schools continued to outperform public ones. This disparity is due not to smarter students but to better-funded systems, closer monitoring, motivated teachers, and access to learning tools. This growing divide is breeding two classes of students—those prepared for the future, and those left behind.
C. The Domino Effect: Broader Implications
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- A Shrinking Pool of Tertiary Admission Candidates
With only 38% of candidates meeting university admission benchmarks, Nigeria’s tertiary institutions face a crisis of low-qualified applicants. This affects not just admission but also the quality of graduates Nigeria will produce in the coming years.
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- A Blow to the National Workforce
The quality of secondary education directly impacts the calibre of future workers, entrepreneurs, and innovators. A failing education system today means a weaker, less competitive workforce tomorrow. In a country trying to diversify from oil and build a digital economy, this is a dangerous handicap.
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- Threat to National Development Goals
Nigeria’s dreams of becoming a knowledge-based economy by 2030 depend on education. The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 on Quality Education, which Nigeria has signed onto, is under threat. The 2025 WAEC result is a red flag that urgent action is needed if the country wants to meet its global development commitments.
D. Global Context: What Other Countries Are Doing Right
Countries like Singapore, Finland, and South Korea have achieved tremendous educational success by investing in the quality of teaching, aligning curricula with future skills, and ensuring equity in educational access.
For instance, Finland’s education reform was rooted in teacher autonomy and holistic learning. Singapore linked education directly to economic planning, constantly updating its curriculum to match future workforce needs. Rwanda, in Africa, has leveraged ICT in education through its “Smart Classrooms” initiative and retraining of teachers nationwide.
These reforms were not cosmetic—they were systemic and policy-driven. Nigeria must learn from these models and localise what works.
E. What Must Be Done: Actionable Reforms for Nigeria
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- Urgent Curriculum Overhaul
The current Nigerian curriculum remains too theoretical and exam-focused. Education must be reoriented to develop critical thinking, digital literacy, and practical life skills. WAEC itself should also evolve from just testing recall to assessing problem-solving and creativity.
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- Strengthening Teacher Education and Welfare
No education system can rise above the quality of its teachers. Nigeria must invest in retraining programs, teacher certification, and motivational welfare packages to attract and retain the best talents in classrooms.
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- Public-Private Partnership for Infrastructure Development
While government funding is essential, the private sector can complement efforts through CSR programs, especially in technology access, school infrastructure, and digital resource donations.
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- National Anti-Malpractice Task Force
Exam malpractice has become institutionalised. Beyond punitive measures, WAEC, the Ministry of Education, and civil society must establish joint task forces to monitor centres, sanction erring supervisors, and sensitise students and parents.
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- Deployment of Educational Technology
Tech must be harnessed to close the teaching gap. Platforms like uLesson, Khan Academy, and Nigeria’s own N-Power EDU initiatives can support remote and blended learning, especially in underserved regions.
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- Strengthening School-Home Partnerships
A stronger collaboration between homes and schools is vital for improving learning outcomes. Parents must be actively involved in their children’s academic journey through regular communication with teachers, monitoring of homework, and participation in school activities. When teachers and parents work as partners, it reinforces discipline, enhances student motivation, and creates a support system that nurtures consistent academic growth both at home and in school.
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- Establishment of an Education Emergency Fund
Just as there’s a Sovereign Wealth Fund for infrastructure, there should be a National Education Emergency Fund funded by FIRS returns, lottery income, private contributions, and international grants. This would be used to bridge infrastructure gaps, fund rural education, and provide emergency interventions when necessary.
F. The Role of States and LGAs
State governments, through their Ministries of Education, must stop relying solely on federal directives. Education is constitutionally a concurrent responsibility. Local interventions such as teacher recruitment, inspectorate services, and school feeding should be strengthened. Innovative states like Edo and Kaduna have begun to show that results are possible when political will meets innovation.
Conclusion
The Time to Fix Education is Now
The 2025 WAEC results are more than a report, they are a wake-up call, because a nation that fails to educate its children is sowing seeds of poverty, insecurity, and backwardness. Nigeria stands at a dangerous crossroads: either fix the rot in education now or continue producing graduates unfit for the realities of algorithm age.
So, from policymakers and teachers to parents and civil society, the responsibility is collective, and education must become a national emergency henceforth. We need a decade-long Marshall Plan for Education that is rooted in policy reform, funding, teacher development, and technological integration.
Collectively, we should let the 2025 WAEC failure be the last of its kind here. The future of a nation of over 200 million people hangs in the balance. The nation cannot afford to toy with its future generation. Never!
References
- WAEC (2025). Official WASSCE Result Release Statement. Retrieved from WAEC Nigeria.
- Ileyemi, M. (2025). WAEC 2025 Results Show Decline in Performance. Premium Times Nigeria.
- UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2023). Global Education Monitoring Report.
- World Bank (2022). The State of Education in Sub-Saharan Africa: Facing the Learning Crisis.
- National Bureau of Statistics (2024). Annual School Enrolment and Education Performance Indicators.
- WAEC Digital Certificate Platform. (2025). https://www.waec.org
- Obanya, P. (2019). Revitalising Education in Africa. Lagos: Stirling-Horden Publishers.ed
