The National Examinations Council (NECO) has been forced once again to reschedule the common entrance examination to give room to states to increase their applicants. FRANK IKPEFAN, Damola Kola-DarE and VICTORIA AMADI look at the reasons behind the excuse given by the examination body.
Since 2021, the National Examinations Council (NECO) has extended the timeline for registration for examinations to the Federal Unity Colleges to give states the chance to increase the number of their candidates.
Reports showed that Northern states are notorious for having lower figures of applicants seeking admission into the unity schools.
There are 116 unity schools, including technical colleges, which the examination body conducts admission into yearly.
The schools are operated by the Federal Government, with all the states, including the Federal Capital Territory, allocated a certain quota for admission.
Zamfara State had the least registered candidates for the 2021 National Common Entrance Examination (NCEE). The state was replaced by Kebbi in 2022 with 74 applicants.
This year, the examination body has been forced once again to reschedule the common entrance examination to give room to states to increase their applicants.
The examination body said the extension would give states with low numbers the opportunity to register more candidates.
In a statement by the Head of Information and Public Relations Division, Azeez Sani, NECO noted that the NCCE examination for admission into Federal Unity Colleges would hold on Saturday, June 3 instead of Saturday, April 29 as earlier scheduled.
The statement partly reads: “The Examination was rescheduled to give states with low registration of candidates the opportunity to register their candidates for the examination.
“All candidates, parents, guardians, schools and relevant stakeholders are therefore enjoined to take note of the new date for the examination. The registration of candidates will continue till the new date of the examination.”
2021 registration
Seventy-six thousand, eight hundred and fifty-five (76,855) pupils sat for the 2021 National Common Entrance Examination for admission into the 110 Federal Government colleges.
The Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, noted that the government planned to increase the carrying capacity of the Unity Schools to 30,000 to accommodate more pupils, who are desirous of attending the colleges.
He noted that the carrying capacity was increased to about 26,000 last year, which did not include the six new technical colleges and the plan to establish five more colleges in the country to bring the total number of unity colleges to 115.
2022 registration
Last year, Lagos State had 19,518 pupils, the highest number registered for the examination. The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) came second with 8,623 pupils. Anambra came third with 5,335 pupils.
Education Minister Adamu Adamu announced the figures at a briefing in Abuja after receiving the results from the Registrar of the National Examinations Council (NECO), Prof. Ibrahim Wushishi.
Adamu, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, David Adejo Andrew, said Ajidagba Mariam Akanke, said to be an indigene of Sokoto State, had the highest marks of 201. Obot Abundance Idara, an indigene of Akwa Ibom State, came second with 200 marks.
He said: “This year’s edition was written on Saturday, May 7, 2022, in Nigeria, as well as in Benin Republic and Togo.
“The major highlights of 2022 NCEE that I wish to bring to our attention include: “A total number of 71,738 pupils registered, with 34,030 being males and 37,708 being females.
“Ninety-six per cent (68,638) pupils sat for the examinations. Four per cent (3,100) were absent.”
Adamu said the admission criteria for selection of qualified candidates into the colleges are: 60 per cent Merit; 30 per cent Equality of State, and 10 per cent Exigency.
Wushishi expressed delight over the smooth conduct of the examination by NECO. He noted that relative improvement was recorded in the performance of pupils in this year’s examination. 2023: Poor awareness responsible for low registration figures?
The NECO spokesman linked the low registration for the examination this year, to poor awareness. Sani said most states were not aware of the examination dates, hence the need to extend the registration exercise. As of the time of filing this report, about 56,000 candidates had registered for the examination.
The NECO spokesperson said: “It has become a norm for some states. It is at the end that you see states or politicians that sponsor candidates rush to register them.
“Unlike other examinations that we go on with whether registration is low or not, but in this case, allocation is based on a quota system to ensure every state is carried along. You know it is a unity school and so the Federal Ministry of Education wants all the states to be carried along; to have their own allocation. That’s why we tend to reschedule the examination when there is registration so that states with low registration are given the opportunity to make up for the short fall.
“In some states, the awareness is not much. They don’t know the importance of gaining admission into unity schools. State governments need to sensitise their people on the importance of allowing their students to partake in the common entrance examination.
“It is just like other strata of the society where the principle of federal character is applied. All the states have a quota which they are supposed to fill. It is only after this extension, if they fail to make up, other states with higher registration will be considered to fill those shortfalls.
“But all the states are expected to be carried along by the principle establishing the schools. We have to give states the opportunity to meet up with their quota.”
Stakeholders speak
The Coordinator, Child Protection Network (CPN), Lagos State chapter, Mrs. Ronke Oyelakin, said: “This is a very important discussion. As we all know that we are in the reality stage across the nations, in Africa especially.
“Education has been said to be the bedrock of any nation, but what we are seeing today is beginning to tell us that money may be more important.
“Socio-economic factors such as family income level, parents’ level of education, race, and gender – all – do influence the quality and availability of education as well as the ability of education to improve life circumstances.
“Education is very expensive apart from Lagos State with free education, other states pay for education hence in the East or other region of the country, some prefer to be artisans or they learn a trade.
“Let government build more libraries with the communities and encourage more educational programmes like quiz, debates, scholarships and other incentives.
“Also, most of the bookshops are stationery stores. Ojuelegba, Yaba, Ikeja etc that were known for selling foreign and local books are now market for fairly used clothes and electronics.
“Most importantly, when four to five libraries are situated in communities with modern day equipment, both young and old would be lured to study.
“What exactly is lacking in Nigeria educational system? Education is confronted with myriad of problems. These include poor funding and poor educational infrastructure inadequate classrooms, teaching aids (projectors, computers, laboratories and libraries), paucity of quality teachers, brain drain and poor/polluted learning environment.
“The government has a major role to play by encouraging private sector partnership and support and international funding.”
Also, Chairman, National Union of Teachers, Lagos State chapter, Comrade Akintoye Hassan, noted that the decline in enrolment into unity schools is attributed to the insecurity in the country. He added that no parents would want to subject his child to danger.
In his words, “The record we have with us is obvious that things are not going well in the country in terms of insecurity. No one is interested in allowing their children to go far away from them now. “The Chibok girls’ experience is still fresh in the minds of the citizens. Nothing has been done to address the situation. If the security issue is addressed today and people notice there is positive outcome regarding security, the decline in enrollment into these unity schools would be a thing of the past. The majority of these unity schools are boarding. Nowhere is safe and that’s the new challenge before incoming government.
“They should address the issue of insecurity across the country. Insecurity has affected the education system, economy, and social lives. It’s a serious challenge. Insecurity is the reason why we are having decline in enrolment into these unity schools.”
Akintoye, however, urged the incoming government to promptly address the issue of insecurity, especially in education sector.
He added: “In as much as we have identified the issue, we should address it.”
