THE National Examinations Council (NECO) has released the results of the 2020 Senior School Certificate Examination for external candidates; the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports, quoting a statement by the Head, Information and Public Relations Division of the council, Azeez Sani, in Abuja on Thursday.
NAN also reported that NECO’s Registrar, Godswill Obioma, during the announcement of results, said 41,459 candidates registered for the examination out of which 39,503 actually sat for it. He explained that a total of 26,277 candidates obtained five credits and above including English Language and Mathematics while 34,014 candidates also obtained five credits and above irrespective of English Language and Mathematics.
The registrar, who reiterated the council’s zero-tolerance for examination malpractice, noted that appropriate standards and excellence were maintained right from the planning stage to the release of results. He added that 6,465 cases of examination malpractice were recorded in the 2020 SSCE External as against 17,004 cases in 2019.
Mr Obioma noted that the reduction in the level of malpractice was a result of deepened monitoring of the examination by members of the Governing Board, Management and Senior Staff of the Council.
He further explained that in line with the council’s zero tolerance for examination malpractice, four supervisors who were found culpable of aiding and abetting malpractice had been blacklisted and would no longer be engaged in the conduct of NECO examinations.
Mr Obioma said that the results of 256,000 candidates who missed some papers during the 2020 SSCE (Internal) due to the ENDSARS Protests in some states and who sat for those papers during the 2020 SSCE (External) are being released alongside external candidates.
“One examination centre in Ogun State has been derecognised for intimidation and several attempts to induce NECO officials as well as aiding and abetting examination malpractice. It is gratifying to note that the examination was at no extra cost to the affected candidates.
“A further analysis of candidates performance indicates that a total number of 29,918 obtained credit and above in English Language while a total number of 34,061 candidates obtained credit and above in Mathematics.”
The Registrar stated that year 2020 ushered in very daunting challenges essentially occasioned by COVID-19 Pandemic and ENDSARS Protests in the pursuit of the Council mandates.
He said this necessitated the rescheduling of the various examinations organised by NECO, for instance, 2020 SSCE (External) which ought to have been concluded in November/December 2020 was conducted in February/March 2021.
According to him, “in spite of these, we were not deterred; rather we remained resilient and resolute in the conduct of our activities”.
The registrar reiterated the council’s commitment to conducting credible examinations to improve the quality of education in the country.
“In view of the above, and based on approval of the Federal Ministry of Education, NECO has scheduled her public examinations for year 2021 as follows:
“National Common Entrance Examination (NCEE) for admission of JSS 1 students into Federal Unity Colleges is scheduled for May 29.
“Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) Internal is scheduled from July 5 to Monday, Aug. 16.
“Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) is scheduled for Aug. 23 to Monday, Sept. 6 in order to enable students at that level cover enough subject matter for the examination,” he said.
The registrar expressed gratitude to President Muhammadu Buhari, for finding him worthy to be appointed to serve and contribute to the development of education in the country.
He, therefore, enjoined candidates to access their results on NECO website www.neco.gov.ng using their examination registration numbers.
