N50,000 WAEC, NECO Fee Hike Sparks Backlash
A single decision by the Federal Ministry of Education has reopened one of Nigeria’s most sensitive debates, pitting the government’s argument about the rising cost of running national examinations against the harsh arithmetic confronting millions of households already stretched to breaking point.
The Ministry, in a memo dated June 18, 2026 and signed by the Director of Senior Secondary Education, Adeniji Ibrahim, on behalf of the Minister, approved a uniform registration fee of N50,000 per candidate for the Senior School Certificate Examinations conducted by the West African Examinations Council and the National Examinations Council. The new rate takes effect from the 2027 examination cycle. NECO’s internal SSCE fee rises from N30,000, while WAEC’s climbs from N27,000, an increase of roughly 82 per cent over the previous benchmark of N27,500 and one of the sharpest jumps in examination charges in recent memory.
According to the memo, the harmonisation followed a March 31, 2026 meeting between the Minister and the examination bodies, where the two councils were directed to adopt a single fee structure. The Ministry’s Director of Press and Public Relations, Folasade Boriowo, confirmed the approval, stating, “I can confirm the approval of an upward review of the examination fees.”
The reaction has been swift and largely hostile. The Campaign for Equal Rights and Opportunities for All Nigerians condemned the move as tone-deaf. In a statement, the group’s Secretary, Francis Odiir, said, “The approval of the increase in examination fees is a clear indication that those in charge of this country do not understand the magnitude of the pain and suffering Nigerians are going through.” He warned that the timing could push vulnerable children out of the system entirely, adding, “This policy will further worsen the out-of-school children crisis because many parents will struggle to pay the examination fees.”
The National Parent Teacher Association of Nigeria also pushed back. Its Board of Trustees Chairman, Deolu Ogunbanjo, argued that any review should have been gradual, noting that a defensible adjustment “should be a bit progressive, may be at most 25 per cent,” rather than a leap he put at over 75 per cent. The Nigeria Union of Teachers, through its National President, Audu Titus Amba, took a more neutral line, saying registration fees were a matter “left to parents to reject or accept.”
The controversy carries clear political weight ahead of 2027. Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, described the hike, alongside a recent increase in Federal Unity College fees, as “cruel, economically insensitive and fundamentally incompatible” with the state’s duty to educate every child. He framed it against a backdrop of an estimated 10.5 million to 15 million out-of-school children, and pressed President Bola Tinubu to reverse both measures.
The wider economic setting sharpens these anxieties. Headline inflation rose to 15.93 per cent in May 2026, its third straight monthly increase, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, keeping food and transport costs elevated even as the annual rate sits well below the 26.06 per cent recorded a year earlier. In several states, including Lagos, governments cover WAEC fees for public school pupils while parents shoulder NECO costs, meaning the new rate lands on both public treasuries and family budgets.
For now, the government maintains the review is necessary to sustain the quality of national examinations, while stakeholders insist affordability cannot be an afterthought. With implementation still more than a year away, the pressure to reconsider is unlikely to ease.