The Federal Government has banned secondary school students that were not in terminal classes from applying and sitting for the exit examinations. The listed examinations include West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), the National Examination Council (NECO), and National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB). The Federal Ministry of Education, through a circular signed by its Director, Senior Secondary School, Binta Abdulkadir, to principals of Federal Unity Colleges, stated that the decision was taken due to findings that revealed that many students in SS1 and 11 that had earlier written external examinations often return to classes and distract their peers from learning.
In the circular with no: FME/DBSE/US/DOC/III/16 and tagged: Students Writing External Examination in SS1 and SS2 classes, the government expected that strict enforcement would be carried out to prevent contravention across the country.
It added that any student, particularly in public schools, not in the terminal classes found to have written the examination, henceforth, would be expelled from the school immediately to serve as a deterrent to others planning to embark on such actions.
The government stated that the decision to restrict students in Senior Secondary (SS) 1 and 11 classes from sitting for external examinations was taken to maintain decorum and boost standards of education in schools.
