The Educate Africa Institute (EAI) has raised serious concerns over the rising incidence of cheating in the ongoing 2025 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for School Candidates.
Reports from WAEC monitoring teams indicate widespread malpractice involving candidates, invigilators, and school staff across multiple examination centres.
EAI cautioned that the increasing scale of malpractice threatens to undermine the value of WAEC certificates, which for decades have served as a trusted qualification for further studies and employment both locally and internationally.
The institute further warned that some foreign universities are already reviewing their acceptance of WAEC results, a development that could soon require certificate holders to sit for additional entrance examinations before securing admission abroad.
The think tank attributed part of the problem to WAEC’s long-standing monopoly over examinations in the sub-region.
According to EAI, this monopoly has fostered complacency, weak accountability, and limited innovation, all of which have contributed to the growing malpractice.
In response, the Institute called on West African governments to establish an independent examination body to operate alongside or possibly replace WAEC.
Such a move, EAI said, would improve transparency, raise educational standards, and restore public confidence in the examination system.
The warning from EAI comes at a critical time as education stakeholders across West Africa grapple with maintaining credibility and integrity in regional examinations.
Without urgent reforms, the institute cautioned, WAEC certificate holders could face increasing barriers when seeking opportunities abroad.
