Students, Parents Lament; WAEC Urges Rechecking of Revised Grades
There was a surge of outrage across Nigeria on Thursday as the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) confirmed technical errors in its result-checking portal for the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), temporarily cutting off access for candidates.
In a public statement, Moyosola Adesina, Head of Public Affairs at WAEC’s National Office, disclosed that an internal audit conducted after the result release exposed flaws in their backend system, necessitating the suspension of access to the portal.
According to WAEC, the glitch emerged from its newly implemented “paper serialisation” initiative, introduced to curb exam malpractice in key subjects including Mathematics, English Language, Biology, and Economics. While WAEC defended the move as being in line with global best practices, it admitted that the innovation triggered technical disruptions after the results were published.
“The West African Examinations Council sincerely regrets to inform the general public of technical issues discovered during the internal review of the recently released results…,” the statement read.
WAEC urged candidates to revisit the portal after 24 hours—by Friday—to view updated grades.
The clarification came a day after WAEC initially cited “technical issues” on its official X account, sparking widespread speculation.
okay.ng reports that this year’s result breakdown, previously released by WAEC Head of National Office, Dr. Amos Dangut, showed only 38.32% of nearly two million candidates obtained credits in five core subjects including English and Mathematics—the lowest in ten years.
The announcement triggered responses from education stakeholders. National Association of Parent-Teacher Associations of Nigeria (NAPTAN) President, Haruna Danjuma, welcomed WAEC’s accountability but condemned the push to move fully to Computer-Based Testing (CBT), calling it “unrealistic.”
“It is good for whoever made a mistake to acknowledge it. But this idea of moving WASSCE and NECO entirely to CBT is unrealistic,” Danjuma warned.
He pointed to inadequate infrastructure and low digital literacy in rural areas.
Students also voiced outrage. NANS Assistant General Secretary, Adejuwon Olatunji, did not mince words: “This incident is not just regrettable; it is a clear sign that the leadership of WAEC has failed.”
Olatunji demanded sanctions, describing the situation as “an unforgivable failure.”
Public reactions online also expressed deep concern. One user tweeted, “Many parents will likely demand a review of their children’s scripts. Parents are upset…”
The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) also chimed in. President Audu Amba said the technical issues should have been fixed before public release. He added that the problem was deeper than teachers—pointing to government funding, student attitude, and infrastructural decay.
Meanwhile, the Federal Ministry of Education has confirmed the issue has been resolved, commending WAEC for responding with transparency. Press Director Folasade Boriowo noted the glitch aligned with broader reforms which include phasing in CBT by 2026 for objective papers.
