The Federal Government says the smooth conduct of the National Examinations Council Computer-Based Test Senior School Certificate Examination has strengthened confidence in the country’s planned transition to digital examinations.
Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmad, said this on Wednesday while monitoring the ongoing NECO CBT examination in Abuja.
Ahmad visited Redeemer’s TEAP School and Anglican Girls’ Grammar School, where she assessed the conduct of the examination and interacted with candidates.
The minister described the exercise as an important step toward reducing examination malpractice and improving credibility in public examinations.
She said feedback from students at the centres showed that many candidates preferred the computer-based format to the traditional paper-based examination.
According to her, the students also confirmed that the examination began on schedule and that they did not experience technical problems.
Ahmad said the CBT model makes it difficult for candidates to communicate during examinations.
She added that the randomisation of questions also reduces the possibility of cheating, as candidates do not receive the same set of questions in the same order.
The minister said the Federal Government would not rush the full transition to CBT until adequate infrastructure is available across the country.
According to her, the government does not want any student to be disadvantaged by lack of facilities or poor access to technology.
She said the ministry was working with the National Assembly, state governors, private sector partners and other stakeholders to provide the facilities required for a smooth nationwide rollout.
Ahmad added that the adoption of CBT would help promote merit, integrity and higher standards in Nigeria’s education system.
Also speaking, NECO Registrar, Prof. Ibrahim Wushishi, said the council had not recorded any technical hitch since the examination began.
Wushishi said reports from the centres showed that the examinations started on time and were conducted without network failures or other disruptions.
He disclosed that 1,378,048 candidates registered for the 2026 Senior School Certificate Examination.
According to him, female candidates slightly outnumbered male candidates in this year’s registration.
The registrar said the increase in female participation reflected the impact of government efforts to promote girl-child education.
Wushishi also said NECO had about 10 CBT centres in the Federal Capital Territory.
He added that the council expected to release the examination results by the first week of September to support the 2026 admission process.
The registrar said the CBT system had improved the credibility of the examination process by reducing opportunities for malpractice through question randomisation.
One of the candidates from Redeemer’s TEAP School, Ambassador Alabi, described the CBT experience as smooth and more convenient than paper-based testing.
Another candidate from Anglican Girls’ Grammar School, Isaac Abioro, said the computer-based examination was easy to use and had so far been free of technical glitches.
Principal of Anglican Girls’ Grammar School, Mrs Nkiruka Nwafor, said the shift to CBT was preparing students for a technology-driven future.
She said the school had already introduced computer-based testing for some internal examinations to help students become familiar with the format before external assessments.
Nwafor added that exposing students to CBT from junior classes would help them build confidence and adapt to modern examination systems.
The monitoring exercise showed candidates writing the examination in an orderly environment, with no reported technical disruption at the centres visited.
