By Azeez Kareem
Nigeria must confront a hard truth about its secondary education system: the steady normalisation of special centres for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WAEC) is undermining learning, weakening integrity, and producing graduates ill-prepared for real-world challenges.
In my observations about students, who cannot defend what they hold as their certificates, I realize most of them didn’t even write the exams, under what they called non appearance, and some were spoon fed answers at each exam days, unfortunately these ones would also scale through to universities and struggle or use the same pattern to become what they are not prepared for. It all begins from the secondary schools, if the government would be serious enough, the two steps here is a good starting point.
The government continues to demand more from the teachers, even though under unfavourable conditions, but has also failed to look deep into what is causing the various challenges. When a child failed to pass, it is the teacher, when they fail to read, it is the teacher, when they do not respect elders, or become menace in the society they blame it all on the teachers, not the parents, who empowers their children to take the short cut, not all, but most of them, and that is why the schools are getting emptier by the day.
Originally intended as examination venues, many of these so-called special centres have, over time, become hubs for organised malpractice. Students are registered outside their schools, supervised loosely, and in some cases openly assisted during examinations. The consequence is a parallel system where success is often purchased rather than earned.
Data trends help explain the urgency of reform. Over the past decade, WAEC results have fluctuated, with pass rates (five credits including English and Mathematics) hovering between roughly 26 percent and 65 percent. For instance, in 2014, only about 31 percent of candidates achieved this benchmark. The figure rose to about 52 percent in 2016, peaked around 65 percent in 2020, and has since fluctuated slightly above 70 percent in some recent years. While this suggests improvement on paper, education experts and policymakers have repeatedly questioned whether these gains reflect genuine learning or inflated outcomes aided by malpractice.
The existence of special centres distorts these statistics. Students who struggle academically are often diverted away from their original schools into these centres, where the focus shifts from learning to passing at all costs. This practice creates a misleading national picture of higher pass rates without corresponding competence.
A critical reform is therefore necessary. The government should ban special centres outright and mandate that all students sit for WAEC in the same schools where they received their education. This policy would restore accountability to schools, teachers, and students alike. If a student fails, the solution should not be relocation to a dubious centre but structured academic support and a chance to rewrite the examination within the same school environment.
Why can’t a student with a Carry Over (C.O) in a university, leave the institution and go to another institution? This should also support my motion.
Such a system would reinforce continuity in learning. A student who begins in a school completes their academic journey there, building relationships with teachers who understand their strengths and weaknesses. Rewriting alongside a new cohort would not be a punishment but an opportunity for remediation and growth.
There are legitimate concerns about mobility. Families relocate, economic realities shift, and some students may face genuine disadvantages if forced to remain in a particular school. This is where a controlled transfer mechanism becomes essential. I have also itemise these challenges also, and how it can be resolved.
Students should be allowed to move only through formal approval from district education boards, ensuring they transition into recognised schools rather than unregulated centres. This preserves flexibility without compromising standards.
The deeper issue extends beyond examinations. Nigeria’s education system has been weakened by years of underfunding, overcrowded classrooms, poorly motivated teachers, and inconsistent policy implementation.
According to UNESCO recommendations, countries should allocate 15–20 percent of their budgets to education. Nigeria has consistently fallen below this threshold, often allocating less than 10 percent. The result is visible in infrastructure deficits, limited teaching resources, and declining teacher morale.
These structural weaknesses create fertile ground for malpractice. When students are not adequately taught, and teachers are overwhelmed or underpaid, the temptation to assist candidates grows. Parents, desperate for results in a highly competitive environment, often become complicit by seeking out special centres.
The long-term consequences are severe. Universities and employers increasingly report that many graduates lack basic skills in communication, critical thinking, and problem-solving. This mismatch between certificates and competence undermines national development, as the workforce is unable to meet the demands of a modern economy.
Banning special centres would send a strong signal that the era of shortcuts is over. However, it must be accompanied by complementary reforms: investment in teacher training, improved school infrastructure, stricter examination monitoring, and the integration of continuous assessment systems that reduce the overreliance on a single final exam.
Technology can also play a role. Biometric verification, centralised question distribution, and digital monitoring systems can reduce opportunities for malpractice. But technology alone is not enough; the culture of accountability must be rebuilt.
Ultimately, education is not merely about passing examinations but about preparing young people for life. A system that rewards dishonesty produces graduates who struggle in higher education, falter in the workplace, and lack confidence in their own abilities.
Nigeria stands at a crossroads. Continuing with the status quo will only deepen the crisis. But by eliminating special centres and restoring integrity to the examination process, the country can begin to rebuild trust in its education system and ensure that certificates once again tell a story of true learning.
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