By Alao Adamadamosi Sunday.
In a move that can only be described as shocking and deeply insensitive to the plight of the average Nigerian, the Federal Ministry of Education has issued a directive to increase the registration fee for the National Examinations Council (NECO) to a staggering Fifty Thousand Naira (N50,000.00) per candidate. According to a circular dated June 18, 2026, signed by the Director of Senior Secondary Education, this astronomical hike is set to take effect from the NECO SSCE (Internal) in 2027.
While the Ministry justifies this upward review by citing a request from the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and a subsequent directive from the Honourable Minister to harmonize fees, this decision represents a gross miscalculation of the current economic climate and a blatant neglect of the financial burden placed on Nigerian parents.
To put this fee into perspective, one must look at the harsh economic reality on the ground. With the national minimum wage currently pegged at N70,000 (and in reality, many families earn less or operate on precarious informal incomes), asking a parent to part with N50,000 for a single examination is not just a “review”—it is an outright disqualification of a child’s future. For a family with multiple children sitting for the exam, the cost becomes impossible to fathom. Over 70% of a minimum wage earner’s monthly salary would be wiped out simply to pay for one exam slip.
Nigeria is currently grappling with historic inflation rates that have pushed the cost of food, transportation, and basic utilities beyond the reach of the average citizen. In this environment, treating education—a fundamental right and a public good—as a cash cow for revenue generation is an act of profound governmental insensitivity.
The circular notes that the Minister directed both WAEC and NECO to adopt a “uniform fee.” While uniformity is an admirable administrative goal, it must not come at the expense of accessibility. Harmonizing fees upward does not create efficiency; it creates barriers. The government has a constitutional duty to ensure that education is accessible to all, not just the children of the wealthy elite. By pushing the cost to N50,000, the Ministry is systematically disenfranchising students from low-income households, particularly in rural areas where the socio-economic divide is already stark.
If the government is serious about maintaining the integrity of these examinations without breaking the backs of parents, a drastic re-evaluation is necessary. In the current economic climate, an examination fee exceeding N15,000 to N20,000 is unjustifiable. For a nation that continuously cries about youth unemployment and a lack of skilled labor, the state must step in to subsidize these essential examinations.
A fair approach would be for the Federal Government to absorb a portion of the cost, capping the candidate’s contribution at a maximum of N20,000, while ensuring transparency and accountability in how the examination bodies utilize the funds. Anything less is a direct sabotage of the nation’s human capital development.
The NECO fee hike to N50,000 is a policy that deserves immediate reversal. The Ministry of Education must remember that its primary mandate is to educate, not to bankrupt. We call on the Honourable Minister to revisit this directive, engage with stakeholders—including parents and civil society—and agree on a fee structure that reflects the present economic realities of the country. The future of our children is too valuable to be priced out of reach.
– Alao Adamadamosi Sunday, arpa writes from Lokoja.
