The National Examinations Council (NECO) has announced the release of its 2020 Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (external) results.
The Registrar/Chief Executive of NECO, Professor Godswill Obioma,who announced this at the Council’s headquarter in Minna, Niger state on Thursday, said out of 41, 459 candidates that registered for the examination, 39, 503 actually sat for the examination.
Details of the results indicates that, a total of 26, 277 candidates obained 5 Credits in various subjects including English Language and Mathematics while 34, 014 candidates made 5 Credits and above across all subjects.
The Registrar who reiterated the Council’s zero tolerance for all examination related malpractices said appropriate standards and excellence were strictly observed right from the planning stage to the time the results were released.
Malpractices recorded throughout the duration of the examination, Professor Obioma indicated that, 6, 465 cases of malpractice were recorded in the 2020 SSCE external compared to the year, 2019 with 17,004 cases.
Professor Obioma attributed the reduction in the level of malpractices to deepened monitoring of the examination by members of NECO Governing Board, Management and as well, the Council’s Senior Staff.
In lline with NECO’s zero tolerance for examination malpractices, four supervisors who were found culpable of aiding and abetting malpractices have been blacklisted and would no longer be engaged in conduct of examinations.
Also, one examination centre in Ogun state has been de-recognized for intimidation and several attempts to induce NECO officials as well as aiding and abet examination malpractice.
He further explained that results of 256, 000 candidates who missed some papers during the 2020 SSCE (internal) due to EndSARS protests in some states and who sat for papers during the 2020 SSCE (external) have been released along side those of external candidates.
The Registrar according to statement signed by, Azeez Sani, the Council’s Head of Information and Public Relations Division however said, “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 who said NECO have strived to maintain best global standards said year 2020 ushered in very daunting challenges essentially occasioned by COVID-19 pandemic and EndSARs protests in the pursuit of the Council mandates.
“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”.
“Inspite of these, we were not deterred rather we remained resilient and resolute in the conduct of our activities”, in line with the Council’s commitments to conducting credible examinations to improve the quality of education in Nigeria.
While expressing gratitude to President Muhammadu Buhari for finding him worthy to be appointed to serve as NECO Registrar, Professor Obioma assured of his commitments to contribute to the country’s education system.
Maintaining high standards could not have been possible without the support and cooperation of the Governing Board, Obioma said as he commended the chairman, Dr. Abubakar Siddique Mohammed and his team for policy guidance in implementating NECO statutory responsibilities.
