Beginning next year, candidates sitting for the Senior School Certificate Examinations (SSCE) conducted by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO) are expected to pay a harmonised fee of N50,000, up from the current N27,000, an increase of more than 85 percent.

While the Federal Government’s decision aims to standardise examination fees following a directive by Dr. Tunji Alausa, the minister of Education, the announcement has ignited widespread criticism from education experts, labour leaders, school administrators and civil society groups, who fear the policy could widen Nigeria’s education gap at a time when millions of households are already struggling with inflation and declining purchasing power.

For many families earning the country’s N70,000 minimum wage, the new examination fee represents almost an entire month’s income for a single child.

Fear of More Out-of-School Children

Education stakeholders argue that beyond the immediate financial burden, the fee increase risks pushing more teenagers out of school and undermining years of efforts to improve access to education.

Dr. Olufemi Mosaku-Johnson, national administrator of the Association of Corporate Governance Professionals of Nigeria, described the increase as ill-timed, warning that brilliant students from low-income households could miss their final secondary school examinations simply because they cannot afford the registration fee.

Although he acknowledged that both WAEC and NECO now operate as self-funding institutions requiring additional resources to deploy technologies such as biometric verification and CCTV surveillance to curb examination malpractice, he insisted that the government should not transfer the full cost to struggling parents.

Instead, he called on federal and state governments to fully sponsor examination fees for students in public secondary schools while increasing overall investment in education.

He also noted that Nigeria’s education funding remains below UNESCO’s recommended benchmark of 15–20 percent of national budgets.

Teachers Warn of Growing Inequality

The Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS) echoed similar concerns.

Comrade (Dr.) Felix Oluwaseun Agbesanwa, Ogun State chairman of ASUSS and National Public Relations Officer of the union, said the proposed increase comes at one of the most economically difficult periods for Nigerian families.

With transportation costs, food prices and inflation continuing to rise, he warned that many parents, especially those with multiple children, may simply be unable to pay the new fees.

According to him, the consequence could be an increase in school dropouts, examination defaulters and widening educational inequality.

Agbesanwa urged the Federal Government to accompany any fee review with targeted subsidies, scholarship programmes and broader consultations involving teachers, parents, school proprietors and civil society organisations.

Labour, Rights Groups Join Opposition

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) also criticised the policy.

Its spokesperson, Benson Upah, described the increase as “stiff, sudden and unreasonable,” arguing that it fails to reflect the economic realities facing low-income workers whose children make up the majority of WAEC and NECO candidates.

Human rights lawyer Femi Aborisade went further, contending that the decision contradicts Section 18 of the 1999 Constitution, which places responsibility on government to provide access to secondary education.

He argued that terminal examinations should form part of that constitutional guarantee rather than becoming an additional financial barrier.

Parents Fear the Worst

For many school proprietors and parents, the issue extends beyond policy.

Agbo Majekodunmi, who runs a preparatory school for SSCE candidates in Ogun State, recalled how communities and religious organisations often mobilise funds to help indigent students register for WAEC and NECO.

He warned that increasing the fee to N50,000 could leave many students permanently excluded from the education system.

Northern Youths Council of Nigeria representative Isah Abubakar similarly cautioned that higher examination costs could reverse progress in reducing illiteracy by forcing more students to abandon their education before graduation.

Calls for Reversal

The growing opposition has also attracted political attention.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar criticised the proposed examination fee alongside recent increases in Federal Unity College fees, describing the measures as economically insensitive and likely to worsen Nigeria’s already significant out-of-school children crisis.

He urged the Federal Government to suspend the policy and instead convene stakeholders to explore sustainable funding models that improve examination quality without restricting access to education.

As the debate continues, one question remains at the centre of the controversy:

Should improving examination standards come at the cost of making secondary education less accessible to the very students it is meant to serve?

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Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, announced the initiative on Thursday after meetings held during the Education World Forum 2026 in London.

The Federal Government said it would fully fund 36,000 training licences in the programme’s first year, removing the cost barrier for participants.

Training will cover Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Cybersecurity, Cloud Computing and Software Engineering, while successful participants will earn certifications recognised by employers globally.

Alausa described the programme as one of the biggest government-backed digital skills investments in the country.

“On the sidelines of the Education World Forum 2026 in London, I signed a landmark partnership with @coursera to launch the Digital Training Academy (DTA), a major initiative designed to equip Nigerian youths with globally competitive digital skills.”

He added: “Through this programme, young Nigerians will receive world-class training in Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Cybersecurity, Cloud Computing, Software Engineering and other high-demand digital fields, while earning globally recognised certifications valued by employers across the world.”

The minister said the programme supports President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which places attention on youth development, innovation and workforce readiness.

“The Renewed Hope Agenda recognises that digital competency is no longer optional. It is foundational,” Alausa said.

“The Digital Training Academy is a direct investment in helping young Nigerians compete and lead in the global digital economy.”

According to the Ministry of Education, the programme will run in partnership with National Open University of Nigeria and Yaba College of Technology.

The government said NOUN would use its nationwide structure to give students across the country access to the programme, while YABATECH would provide technical support, facilitators and industry-focused mentorship.

“Access to training alone is not enough. What truly changes lives is completion, support and accountability,” Alausa stated.

Officials say the academy forms part of reforms introduced by the government to improve technical and vocational education.

In 2025, the Federal Government revised the Technical and Vocational Education Training curriculum, increasing the focus on practical learning with an 80:20 ratio in favour of hands-on training.

Nigeria also signed an agreement with China last year to strengthen vocational education through technical partnerships and practical training support.

The new academy arrives as demand for digital and AI-related skills increases globally. It also comes at a time when Nigeria faces high youth unemployment and underemployment, pushing more young people to seek technology-related careers and remote work opportunities.

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Presented in Lagos at the UNDP Innovation Hub in Ikoyi, where officials handed cheques to the beneficiaries on Sunday, the funding falls under the Student Venture Capital Grant (SVCG), a scheme designed to back student-led businesses with equity-free funding.

The 45 winners emerged from a shortlist of 65 finalists who had earlier taken part in a three-week bootcamp. In total, more than 30,000 students from over 400 institutions applied in the first round.

Each beneficiary can access up to N50 million without giving up ownership of their ideas. Beyond the money, the programme also provides mentorship, incubation support and tools to help validate and grow early-stage ventures.

The University of Lagos produced the highest number of winners, with eight students receiving N50 million each. Others came from the University of Ilorin, the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Lagos State University and Bayero University, Kano.

Most of the selected projects are built around artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies. They are aimed at solving problems in areas such as health, education and access to services.

Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, used the event to push for a change in how universities operate. He said institutions must move beyond theory and focus on practical innovation.

He said, “For too long, our tertiary institutions have been seen primarily as centres for certification. But under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu, we are redefining that narrative.

“Our institutions must now become centres of innovation, engines of enterprise and launchpads for global solutions.”

He also made it known that the programme is meant to unlock ideas that often remain unused in classrooms.

“Now, our students will not only learn, but they will create knowledge. Now, students will not only acquire theoretical understanding, but they will also operate at the highest levels of Bloom’s taxonomy, applying transformative critical thinking and research skills to advance the frontiers of knowledge and solve real societal problems.

“Not only will they create new solutions, but through upscaling and commercialisation, they will transform these innovations into vehicles for sustainable growth and economic development, with catalytic impact on improving the health and wealth of Nigerians.”

Alausa urged students to think beyond profit in the early stages and focus on building solutions that matter.

“This initiative is not only about individual success, it is about national transformation.

“The SVCG scheme will strengthen Nigeria’s innovation ecosystem across universities, polytechnics and colleges of education, build a pipeline of young entrepreneurs and job creators.

“It will also position Nigeria as a hub for deep-tech and innovation-driven growth. This is how nations rise, not by consuming ideas, but by creating them.”

He added that the government may increase funding in future rounds if the first set of projects delivers measurable results.

Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, told the students to stay committed to their ideas, even when things go wrong. He urged them to keep improving their work and build solutions that can scale.

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund, Muntari Dandutse, also spoke on the need to connect classroom learning with real-world application. 

He said the Senate supports programmes that encourage entrepreneurship and practical skills.

Programme coordinator, Adebayo Adebajo, said the next phase will be much bigger. According to him, the government is targeting up to 200,000 applications.

The SVCG scheme is part of a plan to turn Nigerian campuses into centres of innovation. It also aligns with initiatives to build a steady pipeline of young entrepreneurs and support the growth of technology-driven businesses across the country.

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Dr. Tunji Alausa, the minister of Education, disclosed these figures during a high-level briefing, emphasizing that the Out-of-School Crisis has moved beyond a social issue into a significant threat to Nigeria’s long-term economic and digital stability.

The Magnitude of the Crisis

According to the latest UNESCO and Ministry of Education data, Nigeria currently hosts one of the world’s largest populations of children who are not enrolled in any formal learning institution.

• Total Count: Approximately 15 million children.
• Concentration: The crisis is most acute in the Northern regions, though urban centers in the South are seeing rising numbers due to internal displacement and economic hardship.

The Financial Roadmap: Breaking Down the $3.4 Billion 10-Year Plan

To achieve the Renewed Hope goal of zero out-of-school children by 2035, the Ministry has outlined a capital-intensive strategy that requires consistent annual funding.

Infrastructure Expansion ($150M/year): Building and renovating thousands of Smart Classrooms to accommodate the influx of new students.

Teacher Recruitment & Upskilling ($100M/year): Training a new generation of educators capable of delivering digital-age literacy and numeracy.

Incentive Programs ($95M/year): Implementing school feeding programs and conditional cash transfers to alleviate the opportunity cost for low-income families who rely on child labour.

Human Capital as a Digital Asset

Minister Alausa noted that the cost of not investing this $345 million is significantly higher. In a rapidly evolving global economy, 15 million unskilled youths represent a lost generation that cannot participate in the $1 trillion economy Nigeria aims to build.

“We are not just talking about classrooms; we are talking about the foundational skills required for the 21st-century workforce,” Alausa stated. “If we fail to formalize this education now, the cost of social insecurity and lost GDP in ten years will be ten times what we are asking for today.”

A Call for Public-Private Partnership (PPP)

Recognizing that the federal budget alone cannot sustain this ₦540 billion annual requirement, the government is calling on the private sector and international development partners, such as the World Bank and Global Partnership for Education, to bridge the funding gap.

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