WAEC: Why we increased registration fee from N13,950 to N18,500

The West African Examination Council (WAEC) says the increase in its registration fee from N13,950 to N18,000 was due to the rising inflation in the country.

In November last year, WAEC raised the registration fee by 29 percent — a development that elicited a wave of criticism against the exam body.

But on Thursday, Patrick Areghan, head of WAEC’s national office, spoke on the increment during a courtesy visit to the council’s marking centres in Abuja.

Areghan said the worsening inflation rate in the country was to be blamed for the hike in WAEC registration fee.

According to him, the increase in the fee was to enable the council to function optimally and deliver quality services.

“There has to be that marginal increase to enable us to do better services. The examiners are now happy as we are able to increase their marking fees through this marginal increase,” he said.

“The money actually went for the payment of examiners to enable us to satisfy them so that they can do the job better.”

Areghan said each candidate registering for the examinations now has to pay N18,000 as against the former N13,950.

The council, however, pledged to continue to improve its service delivery.

It also assured candidates that the results of the just-concluded 2022 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) will be released within 45 days after the conduct of the last paper.