By Ijeoma Agbafo
The Federal Government has suspended the proposed increase in registration fees for the 2027 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and the National Examinations Council (NECO) Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) following widespread public criticism.
The proposed increase, contained in a June 18, 2026, memo issued by the Federal Ministry of Education, sought to raise the registration fee to ₦50,000 per candidate from the current range of about ₦27,000 to ₦30,000. The ministry had cited rising costs of logistics, security, printing, technology and other examination operations as reasons for the planned adjustment.
However, the proposal attracted criticism from stakeholders, including former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, student groups and education advocates, who argued that the increase would further limit access to education amid prevailing economic challenges and the country’s large population of out-of-school children.
In a statement issued on Monday, the Ministry of Education announced the withdrawal of the June 18 memo, stating that the proposed fee increase had been suspended pending wider consultations with key stakeholders, including examination bodies, state governments, school owners, parents and organised labour.
The ministry said no adjustment to the examination fees would take effect until the consultation process was concluded, assuring students, parents and schools that the current registration fees would remain in place while discussions continued on a sustainable funding framework for the examinations.
