MASS FAILURE IN JAMB EXAMINATION

The result is another wake-up call for all stakeholders to sit up

In the past, the educational system in Nigeria provided one of the best in the world. But the sector is now fraught with problems, all of them self-inflicted. The entire landscape is dotted with schools without books, equipment and competent teachers. At all levels, the tell-tale signs are the products – unskilled, unproductive and unable to compete with their peers elsewhere. The evidence of all this is the mass failure in our examinations, from Senior School Certificate Examinations (SSCE) to the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

That became evident last Monday when the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) released the results of the 2025 UMTE. More than 1.5 million out of 1.9 million candidates—representing about 79 per cent—scored below 200. The UTME is graded over 400, with each candidate assessed in four subjects scored over 100 marks each. A breakdown of the results further revealed that the total number of candidates who scored 300 and above is 12,414—representing less than one per cent. Besides, according to the board, of the 40,247 underage candidates allowed to sit for the exam as a special concession for ‘exceptional academic ability’, only 467 of them—representing slightly more than 1 per cent—met the minimum score threshold defined by JAMB as benchmark for exceptional performance.

Not many people were surprised by the failure rate. In the past, students used to spend more time in the libraries after school because of the availability of textbooks and other reference materials, which could help them to prepare for examinations. But today, inadequate funding, poor management, government’s insensitivity and lack of public-private partnership have combined to kill public libraries. Besides, the advent of social media has affected the reading culture of most students who spend a better part of their time on the internet either chatting, playing games or watching movies, rather than taking advantage of the vast instructional materials available online for self-development.

To change the narrative in the sector, one area of priority that needs to be addressed is teaching. In societies that value quality education, a high premium is placed on teachers who are well-remunerated. Unfortunately, the reverse is the case in Nigeria. Today, many take to teaching for want of anything else to do. Meanwhile, those who take up the profession are poorly paid and hardly regarded in the society. Yet, these are the people expected to shape the future of our country. 

In 2022, the then President Muhammadu Buhari announced a policy aimed at encouraging Nigerians to take up career in teaching. Those studying education in public universities, according to him, would be paid N75,000 stipends every semester. Similarly, colleges of education students were also billed to receive N50,000 per semester. While the rationale behind the idea was good, the federal government did not plan where the funds to implement the programme would come from. Besides, the states and local governments that own these schools were not even consulted before such a major policy decision was announced. Not surprisingly, the promise was never fulfilled even when teachers need all the encouragement that they can get to take their work seriously.

Relevant stakeholders should be concerned that we continue to churn out a crop of uncompetitive youth in a new world driven by technology, skills, and knowledge. Yet, unless policymakers begin to focus their attention on how to address this serious challenge, the consequences could be devastating and very difficult to reverse. We hope the federal government and authorities in the 36 states will work together to address the crisis of education in Nigeria. The 2025 JAMB results should therefore be another wake-up call for stakeholders in the education sector.