Dr Tunji Alausa, the Minister of Education, has urged students taking the current 2025 Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE) organized by WAEC to refrain from shortcuts and put in extra effort to achieve success in their lives.
While visiting one of the schools in Abuja implementing the CBT trial run, the Minister made this statement on Wednesday.
He stated that the procedures implemented by WAEC for initiating the Computer-Based Test (CBT) during this current exam session are incredibly challenging for anyone to tamper with.
He stated that the traditional method of conducting exams using paper and pen is riddled with various forms of misconduct, which can be mitigated through the implementation of Computer-Based Testing (CBT).
Keep up your efforts in working and studying diligently because doing so ensures that regardless of the exam you take, you will succeed.
As you embark on your life journey, success will follow. Avoid taking shortcuts; those who do often falter. Instead, challenge yourself, maintain discipline, and become an upright citizen.
He stated that adopting CBT at an earlier stage would be beneficial for both students and officials, adding, “There is concrete evidence showing that once examinations are conducted using technology, we can nearly eliminate fraud entirely.”
‘WAEC has demonstrated that we can conduct CBT effortlessly. When I visited their control room and observed the internal controls as well as the measures currently being implemented by WAEC, it becomes nearly impossible for anyone to breach the system due to their use of the local area network. Since this system isn’t linked to the cloud, hacking into it is virtually unachievable.’
‘It has been correctly implemented. In November, every Objective exam in November will be conducted via Computer-Based Testing (CBT). By 2026, both Essay and Objective sections of WAEC and NECO exams will shift entirely to CBT.’
‘I circled around and checked all the screens of each student; they were answering multiple-choice questions in English, and everything ran smoothly.’
Regarding the necessary infrastructure for schools to smoothly transition to computer-based testing, Alausa mentioned that the government faces significant challenges in providing this infrastructure.
“Will we manage to put in place all necessary infrastructure by November? Definitely not, but moving forward, we will be prepared; this requires us to push ourselves as a government. It’s about challenging both those who govern and those being governed, which is precisely what we’re aiming to achieve. Doing the same things over again won’t lead to better outcomes,” he stated.
We can’t continue to use methods that are outdated. The approach of conducting exams as we’ve done over the past 300 years needs to evolve with the times; we must embrace technology. That’s exactly what we’re implementing now and intend to carry through. It isn’t complicated—it’s achievable. This doesn’t require dismantling mountains or overturning universes. Other nations follow these modern approaches effectively, so why shouldn’t we adapt too? Nigeria has innovative individuals who excel globally. Therefore, we ought to set higher benchmarks for ourselves.
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