N50,000 WAEC Fees: Atiku Slams Tinubu; You’re “Insensitive”

2027 African Democratic Congress, ADC presidntial candidate Atiku Abubakar has slammed the federal government for increasing the West African Senior School Certificate Examination and the National Examinations Council examinations fees to N50,000.

The former vice president said the increase was part of the Tinubu’s administration’s insensitiveness to the plight of Nigerians, particularly poor people who are currently struggling to survive the harsh economic situation in the county, saying the hike in the fees has imposed more hardship on them, adding that the duty of the government is to make education is supposed to be acceissible to all Nigerians.

Until now, students paid N27, 000 to take the examinations across the country. The  Ministry of education, while making the announcement said it was a product of the decision taken by major stakeholders in March this year.

Abubakar made the assertion in a statement issued on Sunday by Phrank Shaibu his spokesperson, saying many parents are already suffering from the economic problems created by the administration,  including high food prices, high electricity tariff, high transportation fares, among others.

The presidential hopeful stressed that it’s ‘unconscionable” for the government to increase WAEC and NECO fees at this time when the level of poverty is very high in the country, saying many Nigerian children will be denied education as a result of the decision, adding that the hike has created a ‘barrier” between Nigerian children and “education”, warning that the number of school age children who are out of schools are astronomically high, from over 10 million to 15 million in recent times.

He said, “A government that genuinely believes in the future of its people does not erect financial barriers between children and education. It removes them. Education is not a privilege reserved for the wealthy; it is the birthright of every Nigerian child and the foundation upon which prosperous nations are built.”

“Nigeria already bears the painful distinction of having one of the largest populations of out-of-school children in the world. Any government confronted with such a national emergency should be investing aggressively to bring these children back into school. Instead, this administration is choosing policies that will inevitably swell those numbers.

Adding that, “The consequences of these policies extend far beyond school gates. Every child priced out of education today becomes tomorrow’s victim of unemployment, poverty, child labour, criminal exploitation, drug abuse or insecurity. Nations do not become prosperous by making education more expensive; they prosper by making education more accessible.

“It is a systemic filter that will inevitably restrict access to tertiary education for thousands of indigent but academically qualified Nigerian students. For many children from low-income families, the journey to university does not end at the admission gate—it is terminated long before then by the inability to afford the qualifying examinations that determine their future.”