The National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) has condemned the conduct of the 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) during nighttime hours in parts of the country, calling the practice detrimental to students’ performance and educational standards.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Wednesday, NAPPS President Yomi Otubela described the decision to conduct exams at night—under candlelight and torchlight—as “unacceptable.”
“We cannot overrule the fact that the condition in which the examination was written in some states is not acceptable to us. The fact that children were writing exams late into the night with candles and torchlights cannot be a standard that will allow us to have commendable results,” Otubela stated.
His comments follow nationwide backlash over incidents in May where WASSCE candidates in states like Taraba and Ogun were made to sit for exams at night due to last-minute scheduling changes by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC).
WAEC’s Nigeria National Office Head, Amos Dangut, had on May 29 apologised for the incident, attributing the emergency rescheduling to intelligence reports on a potential security breach and paper leakage.
Despite the circumstances, Otubela praised students who managed to perform under such harsh conditions. However, he linked the sharp decline in performance this year to deeper systemic issues in the Nigerian education sector.
“The Head of National Office reported that the pass rate stood at about 38 per cent, the worst in about 15 years, from 2015 to date,” he noted.
“This cannot be far-fetched from the many challenges facing education in our country—poor infrastructure, inadequate digital access, especially in rural areas, and underinvestment in teacher development.”
WAEC released the 2025 WASSCE results on Monday, revealing that only 38.32% of the 1,718,090 candidates who sat for the exams obtained credit and above in a minimum of five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics—marking a sharp drop from the 72.12% pass rate in 2024.
Otubela stressed the urgent need for collaboration between public and private stakeholders to overhaul the system.
“We have not paid sufficient attention to the capacity building of our teachers. In a few months, we’ll be celebrating World Teachers’ Day, yet there is little evidence of investment in teacher training to enhance mentoring of students,” he added.
He further criticised the country’s budgetary allocation to education, noting that it falls short of the UNESCO-recommended benchmark, thereby widening the gap between classroom experience and learning outcomes.
