The national lawmakers investigating the West African Examination Council (WAEC) over prevalent irregularities and operational failures that characterised the 2025 Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination have instructed the council not to use computer-based test (CBT) in 2026.
A member of the committee, who introduced himself as Abia Nte, while interrogating Amos Dangut, head of WAEC, Nigeria, appealed that the council should put everything into perspective before claiming the capacity to conduct CBT examination.
“CBT examination in 2026, I would want to appeal that everything should be taken into perspective before you claim capacity. CBT? No, sir, you would have to have advocated for a national summit on education so that we’re sure where we are; you don’t have statistics of secondary schools where you would have the CBT exams, there are schools in the entire local government areas without CBT facilities.
“Whether the minister of education has given you a marching order, tell him Nigerians are not ready. Let him go and find out things by himself. Many schools lack infrastructure for CBT exams,” he said.
The lawmakers insisted that the country is yet ready to embark on CBT exams for secondary school students.
Studies have shown that a significant portion of Nigerian secondary schools, particularly public schools, do not have computer facilities readily available for classroom use.
Nigeria has 23,550 secondary schools, which form part of a formal six-year secondary education system, divided into junior and senior secondary levels.
The use of computers in Nigerian secondary schools is not widespread, and access varies significantly between public and private schools, as well as between rural and urban areas.
According to the Universal Basic Education Commission, 50 percent of Nigeria’s public schools lack digital facilities, with only 36 percent of the population using the internet and 78 percent of youngsters lacking digital literacy skills.
Read also: Minister urges SSCE candidates to shun shortcuts, backs full CBT adoption by 2026
Though there are plans in place to improve digital learning access through the Nigeria Learning Passport (NLP), the country is not ripe for CBT examinations.
In the UK, students are still writing their GCSEs on a paper-based model. However, the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA), a UK awarding body, hopes that by 2030, at least one major subject will be partly sat digitally in England.
A BBC report states that the reading and listening parts of AQA’s GCSE Italian and Polish examinations will be the first to be assessed this way, from 2026, subject to approval.
The examination board insists that paper-based examinations are still useful for assessing GCSE and A-level students.
Stakeholders are wondering why Nigeria is in a hurry to commence CBT examinations when England, a more digitally advanced country, is proposing a partial adoption in 2030.
Nubi Achebo, director of academic planning at the Nigerian University of Technology and Management (NUTM), expressed concerns that many secondary schools are not ready for WAEC, and NECO CBT examinations by 2026.
“Many schools lack the necessary digital facilities to support CBT exams. Even WAEC and NECO are planning to partner with designated centres to address this issue,” he said.
Read also: 2025 UTME: Over 20 arrested for CBT hacking
Achebo advocates for a gradual introduction of CBT exams, starting with pilot programmes to identify and address challenges.
Friday Erhabor, director of media and strategies at Marklenez Limited, applauded the lawmakers for taking the initiative.
“Like I have always said, apart from the fact that Nigeria is not yet ripe for CBT, we don’t even need it. Let WAEC and NECO continue with the way they have been conducting their exams, which allow for thorough assessment of students’ ability to express themselves,” he said.
Erhabor said that the examination bodies should introduce extra subjects at O level, such as IT, Entrepreneurship, and Financial Literacy, among others.
Jessica Osuere, chief executive officer at RubbiesHub Educational Services, believes the lawmakers are in order because, according to her, many schools, especially in rural and underserved areas, lack the basic infrastructure like computers, reliable power, and internet access, which are needed to support digital learning.
Stanley Alaubi, senior lecturer at the University of Port Harcourt, believes that Nigeria is ready for CBT, but Nigerians are not ready.
“The country is old enough to conduct CBT exams, but the leadership of the nation won’t give the right persons the position to go what they ought to, hence where we are now,” he said.
The federal government announced migrating WAEC and NECO examinations to a computer-based testing format by 2026.
Tunji Alausa, Minister of Education, believes CBT is a crucial step to improve the integrity and fairness of the education system by curbing examination malpractices.
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