The West African Examinations Council has confirmed plans to switch the West African Senior School Certificate Examination from paper to full computer-based testing by 2026.
WAEC’s Head of National Office, Dr. Amos Dangut, made this known on Tuesday during a sensitisation meeting with the National Assembly Committee on Education in Abuja.
“We have conducted five exams already, one for private candidates and one for school candidates, and by 2026, deployment will be massive,” Dangut said.
He noted that the transition, which started with private candidates in 2024, has recorded significant progress and will be expanded nationwide before next year’s deadline.
Speaking on worries over infrastructure and cyber risks, Dangut said WAEC had successfully conducted exams in remote areas without disruptions. He also revealed that students performed better in CBT compared to paper-based tests.
“Our analysis shows that candidates’ performances in CBT have been empirically better,” he said.
The Federal Government had earlier announced that both public and private Computer-Based Test centres would be fully deployed for the exams.
Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, said, “WAEC and NECO exams are school-based exams being conducted at their schools. We will move away from that. It is going to be like the way JAMB exams are being conducted at CBT centres. We have thousands of CBT centres across the nation. Those are the centres that we are going to use.”
The Minister added that the shift will address concerns about schools lacking facilities while ensuring a uniform and secure testing process across the country.
