Tag: NECO

The National Examinations Council (NECO) has accredited more schools in Niger Republic and Equatorial Guinea to write its Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) and the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).

NECO’s acting Director of Information and Public Relations, Azeez Sani, announced this in a statement at the weekend in Minna, the Niger State capital.

The statement said the accreditation to more foreign schools was borne out of the examination body’s determination to broaden its horizon and expand its global presence.

It described the move as a testament to NECO’s commitment to providing quality education and assessment beyond the shores of Nigeria.

Read Also: NECO accredits schools in Niger, Equatorial Guinea for SSCE, BECE

“The newly accredited schools, in addition to the existing ones, are in Niger Republic and Equatorial Guinea. NECO’s accreditation team visited the schools to assess their readiness to write the SSCE and BECE.

“The Accreditation Team inspected classrooms, laboratories, libraries, computer laboratories, workshops, examination halls, and sport facilities to determine their adequacy and suitability for NECO examinations. After a thorough evaluation and comprehensive assessment, the schools were granted full SSCE and full BECE accreditation status,” the statement said.

It also announced that candidates are currently participating in the NECO SSCE external in Diffa, Niger Republic, adding that the UNHCR School in the town was the first NECO SSCE external centre outside Nigeria.

According to the statement, NECO is expanding its global presence in a bid to become a leading examination body in Africa where opportunities will be offered to students worldwide to benefits from its  expertise.

It explained that this would contribute to the advancement of education in Africa and beyond.

The National Examination Council (NECO) has announced that it has accredited more foreign schools in Niger Republic and Equatorial Guinea in a bid to expand its global presence.

NECO’s Acting Director of Public Relations, Azeez Sanni, announced this in a statement on Saturday in Abuja.

The examination body had last year accredited some centres in Niger Republic to enable Nigerian students in the Francophone country to sit for its examinations.

The statement said: “Determined to broaden its horizon and expand its global presence, the National Examinations Council has accredited more foreign schools to write the Senior School Certificate Examination and the Basic Education Certificate Examination.

“The newly accredited schools, in addition to the existing ones, are in Niger Republic and Equatorial Guinea.

“NECO accreditation team visited the Schools to assess their readiness to write the SSCE and BECE.

Read Also: NECO refutes claims of unpaid examiners

“The accreditation 5eam inspected classrooms, laboratories, libraries, computer laboratories, workshops, examination halls and sports facilities to determine their adequacy and suitability for NECO examinations.

“After a thorough evaluation and comprehensive assessment, the schools were granted full SSCE and full BECE accreditation status.”

Meanwhile, candidates are participating in the ongoing NECO SSCE External in Diffa, Niger Republic.

According to the council, the UNHCR School, Diffa, Niger Republic, is the first NECO SSCE External Centre outside Nigeria.

NECO examinations are now written by candidates in Benin Republic, Togo, Cote d’Ivoire, Niger Republic, Equatorial Guinea and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

• ‘Payments finalised’

The National Examinations Council (NECO) has refuted claims that it failed to pay some of its examiners.

The council said it had paid the allowances of all the 72,138 examiners it hired as ad hoc workers for this year’s school-based Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE).

Reacting to a social media allegation that NECO deliberately refused to pay the examiners it engaged in the conduct of this year’s SSCE Internal, the examination body said the payment of examiners started on October 4.

“The Council actually commenced payment of the examiners on October 4, 2024 on bank basis. This was to ensure easy reconciliation and to avoid clumsiness in the payment process. NECO has completed the payment of the examiners’ allowances as at today, Wednesday, November 13, 2024, according to the payment plan of the Council.

Read Also: Council’s ES: 40% of 2024 NECO candidates may not access tertiary institutions

“Also, it was discovered in the process that some examiners submitted incorrect bank details, which the Council has reconciled with the affected examiners. Out of the 24 banks being used for the payment, all the banks have been cleared.

“It is, therefore, incorrect and false as being speculated recently in the social media that the Council has deliberately refused to pay Examiners engaged in the conduct of the 2024 SSCE Internal,” said a statement by NECO’s Information Officer Azeez Sani.

The management of the examination body urged the public, especially the social media, to always seek clarification/explanation from it, instead of resorting to speculations.

The National Examinations Council (NECO) has refuted claims of unpaid Examiners disclosing that it has paid the allowances of all the 72,138 Examiners engaged as ad-hoc Staff in the 2024 School-based Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE). 

Reacting to some social media reports that stated that the Council has deliberately refused to pay examiners engaged in the conduct of the 2024 SSCE Internal, the Examination body stated that the payment of Examiners commenced om the 4th of October.

“The Council actually commenced payment of the Examiners on 4th October, 2024 on bank basis. This was to ensure easy reconciliation and to avoid clumsiness in the payment process. NECO has completed the payment of the examiners allowances as at today Wednesday 13th November, 2024 according to the payment plan of the Council.

Read Also: NECO warns school owners, others against proxy enrolment

“Also, it was discovered in the process that some Examiners submitted incorrect bank details, which the Council has reconciled with the affected examiners. Out of the 24 banks being used for the payment, all the banks have been cleared. It is therefore incorrect and false as being speculated recently in the social media that the Council has deliberately refused to pay Examiners engaged in the conduct of the 2024 SSCE Internal,” a statement by NECO Information Officer, Azeez Sani reads.

The Management advised that any person(s) engaged by the Council should seek clarification/explanation from it, on matters oblivious to them before resorting to the social media. 

•Malpractice rate drops by 30.1%, says exam body

The National Examinations Council (NECO) has said 828,284 of the 1,367,736 candidates, representing 60.55 per cent of those who sat for this year’s Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE) internal, passed English, Mathematics, and three other subjects.

NECO’s Registrar/Chief Executive, Prof. Dantani Wushishi, announced this while addressing reporters yesterday in Minna, the Niger State capital, on the release of this year’s SSCE internal results.

Other details of the results showed that 83.9 per cent of the candidates who sat for the examination earned five Credits and above, irrespective of English language and Mathematics.

Giving a breakdown of the results, he said: “The 2024 SSCE was conducted from Wednesday, June 19, to Friday, July 26, 2024, while the marking took place from Monday, August 19 to Sunday, September 8, 2024.

“Today makes it 55 days after the last written paper, which signifies that all the processes leading to the successful release of the 2024 SSCE Internal results have been concluded.”

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He added: “Number of candidates registered for the examination is 1,376,423, representing 706,950 males and 669,473 females.

“Number of candidates that sat is 1,367,736, representing 702,112 males and 665,624 females.

“Number of candidates with five Credits and above, including English and Mathematics, is 828,284, representing 60.55 per cent.

“Number of candidates with five Credits and above, irrespective of English and Mathematics, is 1,147,597, representing 83.90 per cent.”

The registrar recalled that during the conduct of the examination, 40 schools were found to have been involved in mass cheating in 17 states.

According to him, those found culpable will face a panel and appropriate sanctions will be applied against them.

Also, Wushishi said the council blacklisted 21 supervisors in 12 states and de-recognised one school in Ekiti State for alleged mass cheating in two core subjects and one science subject.

The supervisors, the registrar said, were recommended for blacklisting for alleged poor supervision, aiding and abetting, abscondment, extortion, drunkenness, and negligence.

According to him, 40 schools were involved in whole-school mass cheating in 17 states, and they will be invited to the council for discussion, after which appropriate sanctions will be applied.

Wushishi said 8,437 candidates were involved in various forms of malpractice, but stressed that there was a 30.1 per cent reduction in the rate of malpractice.

The registrar said 2,267 candidates with special needs sat for the examinations.

He announced that “1,103 candidates with hearing impairment, 348 candidates with visual impairment, 342 candidates with albinism, 237 candidates with autism, and 236 candidates with low vision sat for the 2024 NECO internal examinations”.

Wushishi said 269 candidates wrote the examinations from outside the country, including Benin Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Niger Republic, Togo, Cote D’Ivoire, and Saudi Arabia.

The Southwest led the regions with 15.487 per cent in the standard educational performance ranking among candidates with five Credits and above, including English and Mathematics, while the South came last with 5.666 per cent.

The registrar said NECO was considering increasing the allowances of its examiners while mulling over increasing the registration fees of its examinations to enable the council to meet increasing needs.

He added that the candidates could access their results on the NECO website using their examination registration numbers.

The Federal Government’s decision to ban under-18 candidates from sitting for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination and the National Examination Council has sparked mixed reactions.

The Federal Government introduced the 6-3-3-4 system of education in 1983 with the primary focus of meeting the educational needs of its citizenry and equipping the youths with sellable skills that would make them self-reliant.

More than two decades later, a modified system, Universal Basic Education (UBE), also known as the 9-3-4, was introduced, with a curriculum expected to meet global best practices.

Experts have, however, observed that the implementation of the education policies led to the menace of admitting underage children into secondary schools.

The trend of parents pushing their children to finish their education at a very tender age has become alarming.

It has been observed that parents encourage their children to skip primary five and six and “jump” into Junior Secondary School. At the end of secondary school, a Nigerian is expected to be about 18 years old, but many students often graduate at 16 or less due to skipped grades.

Read Also: Nigeria needs effective leadership to address unhealthy inter-ethnic relations, says University Don

This is also applicable to Senior Secondary schools as some parents push their children into taking the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) while in SS 2.

This development has led to many students graduating from secondary schools at ages 14, 15 and 16, and getting admission into tertiary institutions in the country.

The consequence is that younger, immature candidates who ought to be in the controlled space of their parents find themselves unrestrained in a tertiary school environment.

The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, announced on Channels Television’s ‘Sunday Politics’ programme that the Federal Government had instituted a new age policy for secondary school leaving examinations, setting the minimum age at 18.

This means underage candidates will no longer be allowed to sit for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination and the Senior School Certificate Examination, both crucial for advancing to tertiary education.

The directive also affects the West African Examinations Council, which administers the WASSCE, and the National Examinations Council responsible for the SSCE.

Since the pronouncement, the minister has received both hail and knock.

Mamman confirmed that the age limit to undertake the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, overseen by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, will also be 18.

He added that this was not a new policy.

“For the avoidance of doubt, this is not a new policy; this is a policy that has been there for a long time,” Mamman stated.

Last month, Mamman, in a meeting with JAMB and other education stakeholders, insisted that the UTME should be set at 18 years.

Mamman stated: “JAMB is hereby notified that there is now a ban on underage students, those under the age of 18, from our tertiary institutions for the 2024 admissions… It doesn’t require a statement of the minister… we are only restating what is in the law.”

However, the law sparked criticisms, particularly from university stakeholders, as many of those categorised as underage candidates had already taken the UTME without anticipating the directive. This posed a threat to potential 16 and 17-year-olds, who had already passed the UTME and were seeking admission into universities.

Following the disapproval, the minister reversed the directive, allowing candidates from 16 years to be admitted into the university as it previously stood until 2025.

However, following Sunday’s pronouncement, Mamman insisted that there was no going back on the policy.

The National President, Academic Staff Union of Universities, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, maintained that ASUU had not yet discussed the matter, but stated on a personal note that children should follow the standard academic progression: six years in primary school, six years in secondary school, and then move on to university at the age of 18.

Also, Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar berated the Federal Ministry of Education over the policy.

He wondered how such anti-scholarship regulation was the next logical step in the myriad of issues besetting Nigeria’s educational system.