The Federal Government has expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the ongoing National Examinations Council (NECO) school-based Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE), describing the Computer-Based Test (CBT) format as a significant step towards eliminating examination malpractice and improving the quality of education.
The Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Said Ahmad, gave the assessment on Wednesday after monitoring the examination at Redeemers Teap International School, Garki II, and Anglican Girls’ Grammar School, Gudu, Abuja.
She said the examination centres recorded smooth operations, with candidates expressing confidence in the CBT format and commending its ease of use.
“My assessment of the examination is that I’m very happy because from what I have seen in the two centres that I visited, the students are writing the CBT examination and they are happy. The setting for the examination is excellent,” the minister said.
Prof. Ahmad noted that discussions with candidates showed an overwhelming preference for CBT over the traditional paper-based examination, with only one candidate indicating she was comfortable with either format.
She explained that the system’s randomisation of questions had significantly reduced opportunities for examination malpractice.
“I interacted with them to know whether they had seen the questions before the examination because that is one of the key challenges we are trying to address through CBT. They said no. Each student is writing a different set of questions, so even those sitting beside one another cannot communicate because their questions are different,” she said.
The minister reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to expanding CBT examinations nationwide but stressed that a full transition would only take place after the necessary infrastructure had been put in place.
“We will not begin the complete transition until everything is ready because we do not want to put any student at a disadvantage. We are working closely with the National Assembly, state governors, private partners and other stakeholders to provide the necessary infrastructure and facilities for the transition,” she said.
She also expressed satisfaction with the technical performance of the exercise, noting that there had been no reports of network failure or system malfunction since the examination commenced.
“In the schools I visited, I asked whether there were technical glitches in accessing the questions or starting the examination. They assured me that there had been no technical hitch. The examinations started on time without network problems or interruptions,” she added.
According to the minister, the successful conduct of the examination demonstrates that the CBT pilot programme introduced last year has made significant progress and is gradually evolving into a nationwide model.
She maintained that adopting CBT remains the most effective way to safeguard the integrity of public examinations.
“As far as we want quality education, we must eliminate examination malpractice, and I think the only way forward is to move towards CBT examinations,” she stated.
Also speaking after the monitoring exercise, NECO Registrar, Prof. Ibrahim Dantani Wushishi, disclosed that the council expects to release the 2026 SSCE results by the first week of September, or earlier, due to the faster processing enabled by the CBT system.
“By the first week of September, or even before then, we should be ready so that candidates can use their results for admission,” he said.
Wushishi revealed that 1,378,048 candidates registered for the examination nationwide, with female candidates slightly outnumbering their male counterparts, a trend he attributed to sustained government efforts to promote girl-child education.
He also confirmed that no technical challenges had been recorded since the commencement of the CBT examination and disclosed that about 10 CBT centres in the Federal Capital Territory are currently participating in the exercise.
The Principal of Anglican Girls’ Grammar School, Mrs. Nkiruka Nwafor, described the transition to CBT as timely, saying it was preparing students for a technology-driven future.
She explained that the school had already introduced CBT for some internal examinations to familiarise students with the system before external assessments.
“The CBT experience is what we’ve all been waiting for. The future our girls are going into is dynamic and heavily ICT-driven.
“We are excited that our proprietor got on board. We have also introduced CBT for some of our internal examinations so that from JS1 and JS2, the students gradually get used to the system. So it’s about time, and it’s good that it’s happening,” she said.
