The West African Examinations Council, WAEC, has recommended stricter adoption of computer-based testing as a way to tackle CBT examination malpractice and concerns over alleged “miracle centres”.
Mr Timothy Manga, an official of the WAEC office in Makurdi, gave the recommendation while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, about concerns surrounding examination malpractice and the credibility of public examinations. Manga said reports about alleged “miracle” examination centres in Benue State were concerning, although WAEC had not officially confirmed the existence of any such centre in the state.
He warned that examination centres associated with malpractice could undermine the education system by rewarding students for cheating instead of academic preparation and competence. According to him, schools should be recognised for the quality of education they provide rather than their ability to facilitate examination malpractice.
“Any system that rewards students for cheating undermines those who have worked hard to prepare for examinations,” Manga said. He added that WAEC would continue monitoring developments and would take action if credible information about malpractice centres emerged.
Manga stressed that examination outcomes should reflect candidates’ knowledge, preparation and competence rather than access to unauthorised assistance. A teacher with NKST Secondary School, Makurdi, Mrs Rebecca Ezekiel, also backed greater independence in the conduct of external examinations.
Ezekiel argued that independent examination centres could reduce the influence of schools and teachers over examinations conducted by bodies such as WAEC and the National Examinations Council, NECO. She said computer-based testing could give examination bodies greater control over venues, personnel and security arrangements.
“Candidates should be examined under conditions that are independent of the schools where they receive instructions,” she said.
The teacher also called for the use of biometric verification, Closed-Circuit Television, CCTV, and other technologies to strengthen monitoring and authentication during examinations. Such measures, she argued, could make it more difficult for unauthorised persons to interfere with examination processes.
However, not everyone believes that admitting final-year students automatically makes a school a “miracle centre”. Mr Jude Odeh, a school proprietor in Otukpo Local Government Area, said he had heard allegations about such centres in Benue but could not identify a particular school operating in that manner.
Odeh argued that schools should not be labelled as malpractice centres simply because they admit students in their final year of secondary education. He explained that some parents transfer their children between schools for several reasons, including examination registration costs and school fees.
According to him, some schools impose high examination-related charges, making the combined cost of registration and school fees difficult for certain families to afford. Odeh, however, acknowledged that some schools in Benue do not admit new students into Senior Secondary School Three. He said such schools register only students who progressed from SS2 for external examinations.
The debate highlights the growing pressure on examination authorities to strengthen the integrity of public examinations while ensuring that genuine schools are not unfairly classified as malpractice centres.
For WAEC, wider adoption of CBT, combined with stronger monitoring and technological safeguards, could provide another layer of control against examination malpractice and help restore confidence in Nigeria’s examination system.
