Ogunleye Kolapo Olayemi
The recently released JAMB result is yet another testament of the crises that has fallen on the educational landscape in Nigeria.On Monday, May 5, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) released a statistical breakdown of the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) results, in which over 76% of candidates scored below 200. According to JAMB, out of the 1,955,069 students who sat for the examination, only 420,415 scored 200 and above.
It is important to note that this outcome is not a one-off but part of a disturbing trend. In the past seven years, the percentage of students who scored below 200 has consistently been above 70%.When asked about this trend, the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, claimed the high failure rate is proof that the government’s anti-malpractice measures are yielding results — especially within the JAMB system. This statement was quoted by The Punch newspaper.
However, one must ask: Is that truly the case?Does the Minister not consider the hostile educational environment in Nigeria as a possible cause of this underwhelming performance? For instance, exams are scheduled as early as 6:30 a.m., yet the average candidate is only 17 years old. How fair or practical is this? Students at several examination centres also contend with power outages, malfunctioning systems, and abrupt logouts.
Can we say the Minister is unaware of these technical failings when he attributes mass failure solely to a crackdown on malpractice?Also, the increased rate of inflation, which is affect the availability of necessities required by candidates to perform well in their exams. Can we still narrow down the reason for massive failure to just anti-malpractice measures.And what about the appalling state of secondary education in Nigeria? Public schools are in shambles — plagued by a shortage of qualified teachers, dilapidated buildings, outdated curricula, and unpaid staff.
These systemic issues inevitably affect students’ academic performance.According to international standards, UNESCO recommends that countries allocate at least 15% of their national budget to education. In contrast, Nigeria’s 2024 budget allocated ₦1.54 trillion to education — just 6.39% of the ₦25.7 trillion national budget, according to statistics.com.
Clearly, Nigeria has underfunded its education sector relative to global standards. Yet, it seems the Minister sees nothing wrong with this.Some may argue that the poor performance reflects students’ lack of seriousness, with many blaming social media exposure and addiction. While we cannot entirely dismiss this, two truths can coexist: students may be distracted, but the educational system is also fundamentally broken and barely allows for good performance.
Our educational system is at its nadir. The Minister must realise that this wave of mass failure is not evidence of successful anti-malpractice reforms. Rather, it is a glaring sign of a sector on the brink of collapse.
