- Atiku: Millions Of Poor Students Could Be Denied Education
- New Fee Represents 82% Increase From Current ₦27,500 Registration Cost
A wave of public outrage has erupted over reports that the Federal Government is considering increasing registration fees for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and the National Examination Council (NECO) examinations to ₦50,000.
TheMatrix Newspaper reports that the Federal Government approved a new examination fee of N50,000 for candidates sitting the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and National Examinations Council (NECO) Senior School Certificate Examinations (SSCE), with the new rate taking effect from 2027.
The approval was contained in a June 18 statement signed by Adeniji Ibrahim, Director of Senior Secondary Education at the Federal Ministry of Education. It followed a request by WAEC for an upward review of the SSCE registration fee.
The new fee represents an 82% increase from the current N27,500 charged per candidate.
According to Ibrahim, the decision was reached after a March 31, 2026 meeting between the Minister of Education and examination bodies, where the need to review examination fees was discussed. He said the minister also directed both WAEC and NECO to adopt a uniform examination fee.
“You may recall that at a meeting of examination bodies held with the honourable minister of education on 31 March, 2026, where the need for upward review of examination fees was discussed, the honourable minister directed that WAEC and NECO should adopt a uniform fee for the conduct of WAEC and NECO SSCE,” the statement read.
It added, “Consequently, I am directed to convey the honourable minister of education’s approval of the sum of fifty thousand naira (N50,000.00) only, as the new examination fee per candidate, with effect from NECO SSCE (Internal), 2027.”
The ministry said the directive should be communicated to all relevant stakeholders.
The reported proposal has sparked widespread criticism from parents, students, education stakeholders and civil society groups, who argue that such an increase would place an unbearable financial burden on millions of Nigerian families already grappling with rising living costs.
Many critics warned that a sharp hike in examination fees could force thousands of students, particularly those from low-income households, to forgo sitting for the examinations, thereby worsening the country’s out-of-school and education access challenges.
Education advocates have also called on the Federal Government to reconsider any move that could make access to secondary school certification more difficult, insisting that affordability should remain a priority.
Reacting to the proposed hike, Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), described thw move as one that will deny children from poor and middle-income families access to education.
The former vice-president also criticised the recent increase in fees for federal unity colleges, describing the government’s education policies as “cruel”, economically insensitive and inconsistent with its constitutional responsibility to make education accessible.
In a statement issued on Sunday by Phrank Shaibu, his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Atiku said the fee increase comes at a time when Nigerians are battling inflation, rising food prices, transportation costs, electricity tariffs and unemployment.
“A government that genuinely believes in the future of its people does not erect financial barriers between children and education. It removes them,” he said.
“Education is not a privilege reserved for the wealthy; it is the birthright of every Nigerian child and the foundation upon which prosperous nations are built.”
Atiku said Nigeria already has one of the largest populations of out-of-school children globally, warning that higher examination fees would deepen the crisis.
“Nigeria already bears the painful distinction of having one of the largest populations of out-of-school children in the world,” he said.
“Depending on the methodology and age group measured, between 10.5 million and about 15 million Nigerian children and young people are already outside the classroom.
“Any government confronted with such a national emergency should be investing aggressively to bring these children back into school. Instead, this administration is choosing policies that will inevitably swell those numbers.”
He said the increase would disproportionately affect poor and middle-income families.
“The consequences of these policies extend far beyond school gates. Every child priced out of education today becomes tomorrow’s victim of unemployment, poverty, child labour, criminal exploitation, drug abuse or insecurity,” he said.
“Nations do not become prosperous by making education more expensive; they prosper by making education more accessible.”
The former vice-president said the proposed N50,000 examination fee would prevent many qualified students from pursuing tertiary education.
He said the challenge is compounded by the limited admission capacity of Nigerian universities.
“It is a systemic filter that will inevitably restrict access to tertiary education for thousands of indigent but academically qualified Nigerian students,” Atiku said.
“For many children from low-income families, the journey to university does not end at the admission gate — it is terminated long before then by the inability to afford the qualifying examinations that determine their future.
“Today, Nigerian universities can admit only about 500,000 to 700,000 students annually, even though more than two million young Nigerians seek admission every year.
“The inevitable consequence is that well over one million qualified candidates are denied university admission annually — not because they lack the merit or the desire to learn —but because available spaces fall far below national demand.
“Rather than addressing this structural deficit by expanding infrastructure and increasing admission capacity, the government is effectively constricting access even further through higher Unity School fees and the proposed ₦50,000 WAEC and NECO examination fee.
“The result is a cruel double punishment: first, millions of qualified young Nigerians cannot secure admission because there are insufficient spaces; second, many will now be priced out of even competing for those limited spaces.
“That is not educational reform; it is the systematic rationing of opportunity and the gradual exclusion of the children of the poor from the promise of higher education.”
