The Federal Government has announced that all Senior School Certificate Examinations (SSCE) conducted by WAEC and NECO will switch to Computer-Based Testing (CBT) by 2026.
The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, said this after inspecting a pilot CBT exam by NECO at Sascon International School, Maitama, Abuja, on Tuesday.
Dr. Alausa said school exams will no longer be written on paper in classrooms, but in accredited CBT centres just like the UTME conducted by JAMB.
“WAEC and NECO exams are school-based exams being conducted at their schools. No, we will move away from that. We have thousands of CBT centres across the nation. Those are the centres that we are going to use,” he said.
He said the move will create jobs and support entrepreneurs who invested in CBT infrastructure.
“These are homegrown solutions. These are the kinds of opportunities that President Bola Tinubu is unleashing in every sector of his economy,” the minister added.
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Dr. Alausa also explained that objective questions in WAEC and NECO exams will go fully CBT by November 2025, while both essay and objective sections will be conducted via CBT from 2026.
He praised NECO for successfully running the pilot exam.
“Everybody thought this was an insurmountable task, but today, we’ve seen that this is a process that is possible. We cannot continue with this madness of exam malpractice and leaked questions. If we allow this to continue, it will destroy the capacity of our youth,” he said.
The Registrar of NECO, Prof. Ibrahim Dantani Wushishi, confirmed that the council is ready for the transition.
“NECO is ready as a professional body to conduct examinations using any medium. There may be infrastructure challenges, especially in remote areas, but that won’t stop us,” he said.
He called on state governments to help build more CBT centres across the country to make the transition smooth.
“The CBT system will reduce malpractice and improve the quality of our exams and certificates,” Wushishi added.
This year, 1,367,210 candidates registered for NECO’s SSCE—its highest number ever. Kano had the most candidates with over 137,000, while Kebbi had the fewest with just over 5,000. The smallest exam centre was in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where only eight students registered.
Lawmakers also showed support for the CBT transition. Speaking at Government Secondary School, Maitama, Senator Ekong Samson, Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Education, said:
“We are living in an age of technology. Nigeria must come to terms with what happens globally, and as legislators, we will ensure our education system keeps up.”
Hon. Oboku Oforji, Chairman of the House Committee on Basic Examination Bodies, said the lawmakers will continue to monitor NECO’s progress and expressed satisfaction with the exam’s conduct.
“We are very proud of what NECO is doing under the leadership of Prof. Ibrahim Wushishi, and we pray they sustain the tempo,” he said.