Nigeria’s major examination bodies, the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO), have thrown their weight behind the Federal Government’s renewed crackdown on examination malpractice, outlining concrete technical and administrative measures aimed at restoring confidence in public examinations. This assurance came during an NTA Network interview that brought together education stakeholders, including the WAEC Registrar and the NECO management, to explain how new policies will work in practice.
Responding to questions on whether government policies are adequate to curb the menace, educationist Mr. Iyer commended the Ministry of Education for adopting what he described as “data-informed policies.” He argued that the reforms are grounded in lived realities within examination halls and deserve strong institutional backing from examining bodies. “With all fairness, I would score them 99.9,” he said, describing the new direction as a “welcome development” for the sector.
The conversation, however, shifted decisively to implementation, with particular attention on WAEC and NECO as the frontline institutions responsible for conducting nationwide examinations. Observers note that policies can only succeed if examination bodies translate them into workable systems that close long-exploited loopholes.
Speaking on behalf of NECO, Professor Wushishi, a senior official of the council, explained that the body is moving beyond surface-level reforms to more sophisticated assessment mechanisms. He stressed that concepts such as serialisation and randomisation are well understood within the assessment industry, even if their technical depth is not always visible to the public. “We understand what serialisation and randomisation are,” he said, noting that NECO is deliberately cautious about revealing operational details.
According to him, this caution is necessary in a technologically complex society where fraudsters constantly adapt. “By the time you achieve one or two things, people try to catch on and manipulate the system,” Professor Wushishi warned. He added that NECO’s approach goes beyond “minor randomisation,” incorporating layered mechanisms designed to make it extremely difficult for candidates or collaborators to predict question patterns.
Breaking it down for students and parents, the NECO official explained that randomisation simply means that candidates answer the same questions but in different sequences. “You may have question one, while another candidate has the same question as number seventy,” he said. “That way, you don’t even have time to compare or copy.” He emphasized that this simple shift disrupts coordinated cheating within examination halls.
On the WAEC side, the focus was on data integrity and candidate identification. The WAEC Registrar explained that the council is integrating a learner identification number with existing Continuous Assessment (CA) records submitted by schools from SS1 and SS2. “We already have a database of candidates who have been submitting their CA,” he said, adding that these records form the foundation of the new system.
According to the registrar, each learner’s identification number will serve as a unique reference that carries the candidate’s academic history across schools where legitimate transfers occur. “Once you type that reference number, it will bring out every detail about the candidate,” he explained. This, he said, prevents last-minute registrations and the manipulation of student records ahead of examinations.
The WAEC Registrar disclosed that the data generation process is already underway and is expected to be completed before the end of the month. “That number will be what will be used by both NECO and WAEC,” he said, underscoring the unprecedented level of coordination between the two examination bodies.
Addressing concerns about timelines, the registrar expressed confidence that WAEC would meet the schedule for the 2026 examinations, expected to commence around May or June. “We are in January now,” he noted, “and NECO comes in June, so we will be able to meet up with that information.” He added that schools have already been submitting CA records for SS1 and SS2 candidates.
On whether schools would comply with CA submission deadlines, the WAEC Registrar was optimistic. “Schools have been submitting,” he said, explaining that only SS3 submissions remain outstanding, as expected within the academic cycle. He maintained that the new deadlines would compel schools to take continuous assessment more seriously rather than treating it as a formality.
Another concern raised during the discussion was whether question randomisation would disadvantage some students by exposing them to harder questions. Both WAEC and NECO officials dismissed this fear, clarifying that all candidates receive the same set of questions. “It is the same questions for everyone,” the WAEC Registrar said. “The difference is only in the sequence.”
This clarification, education analysts say, is crucial in countering misinformation and anxiety among candidates. By ensuring uniform content with varied ordering, the examination bodies aim to balance fairness with security.
Mr. Iyer, reflecting on past experiences with JAMB’s multiple question types, argued that such systems have historically reduced malpractice. He maintained that “knowledge is far better than certificates,” insisting that credible examinations must reward competence rather than collusion.
As Nigeria pushes toward partial CBT adoption and deeper use of data-driven assessment, the commitments made by WAEC and NECO signal a significant shift in examination governance. While challenges such as infrastructure gaps and digital literacy remain, stakeholders agree that the alignment between policy and practice marks a turning point.
For millions of candidates sitting for WAEC and NECO annually, the success of these measures could redefine the value of their certificates. For the examination bodies themselves, the reforms represent both a test of capacity and an opportunity to rebuild public trust in Nigeria’s education system.
