The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, has said the poor performance recorded in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) is a direct result of heightened anti-malpractice measures by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), declaring the crackdown on exam fraud as effective and necessary.
Speaking during an appearance on Channels Television’s Morning Brief on Tuesday, Alausa described the over 78 percent failure rate as “evidence of integrity returning to Nigeria’s examination system,” especially within JAMB’s computer-based testing regime.
Data released by JAMB last week revealed that out of the 1,955,069 candidates who sat for the exam, only about 420,000 scored above 200, sparking widespread concern over the state of education and preparedness of candidates.
Dr. Alausa, however, argued that the figures expose years of unchecked malpractice in other examination systems, notably the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO).
“JAMB has virtually eliminated cheating with its CBT system,” the minister said. “Unfortunately, we cannot say the same for WAEC and NECO, where malpractice still thrives in what many refer to as ‘miracle centres’.”
He added that the federal government, as part of broader reforms, has mandated both WAEC and NECO to begin the transition to computer-based testing starting in November 2025 with objective questions, and to fully adopt CBT, including for essay papers, by the May/June 2026 examination cycle.
Alausa acknowledged that the current system undermines merit and demoralizes honest students.
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“If students know others are gaining unfair advantages in WAEC or NECO, they lose the motivation to prepare genuinely. This is how cheating poisons the entire education culture,” he said.
When asked whether the UTME outcome could be blamed on academic decline, the minister admitted that Nigeria’s teaching quality and student preparedness are also under review, but emphasized that malpractice is the more urgent threat.
“The core issue is systemic cheating. We are addressing teaching standards and expanding digital learning platforms. But until the examination environment is clean, the smartest students will continue to be discouraged,” he said.
He praised JAMB for maintaining exam integrity and said the government was committed to ensuring that all public examinations reflect true academic merit moving forward.
“Nigerian youths are not failing because they’re unintelligent,” Alausa concluded. “They’re failing because we allowed a system that rewards dishonesty. That ends now.”