The Federal Government has suspended the proposed increase in registration fees for the 2027 West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and National Examinations Council (NECO) Senior School Certificate Examinations (SSCE) following widespread public backlash.
The proposed adjustment would have increased the registration fee from ₦27,500 to ₦50,000, representing an 82 per cent hike.
According to the Federal Ministry of Education, the proposed increase was necessitated by rising costs associated with logistics, security, printing of examination materials, technology deployment, quality assurance and other operational expenses required for the conduct of the examinations.
However, the Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa, has directed that the implementation of the proposed fee increase be suspended pending further consultations with relevant stakeholders.
The ministry said the decision reflects the Federal Government’s commitment to ensuring that access to secondary school examinations remains affordable while efforts continue to address the financial challenges facing examination bodies.
The suspension comes after concerns from parents, students and education stakeholders, who argued that the proposed increase would place an additional financial burden on many Nigerian families.