829,787 candidates score 5 credits, as NECO releases SSCE results

From Yakubu Mustapha, Minna

The National Examinations Council (NECO) has released the June/July 2018 Senior Secondary Schools Certificate Examination results, out of the 1,151,016 candidates who sat for the examinations, only 829,787 of the candidates representing 71.59% got at least five credits including Mathematics and English Language.
The acting Registrar of the Council, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar Gana announced the results yesterday at a press briefing in Minna , said that 40,630 candidates representing 3.53% were involved in examination malpractices higher than that of 2018 which had 20,181 cases.
He said NECO has recommended three schools in Kastina, Kebbi and Oyo states for de-recognition from conducting its Senior Secondary School Examinations (SSCE) for two years.
According to the Acting Registrar/Chief Executive of NECO, Mallam Gana, the schools were de-recognized for their involvements in mass cheating and being special centers.
He said that 17 supervisors were also blacklisted for various offences ranging from poor supervision, aiding and abetting and connivance with non-candidates to write answers on chalkboard.
Gana further said that 40,630 representing 3.53 per cent of the candidates who sat for the examination were involved in various forms of malpractice adding that the number of malpractice cases when compared to 2019 increased with over 50 per cent.
The Registrar explained that the reason for the higher figure of malpractice cases in 2019 is not unconnected with the deployment of the new biometric verification device used in the 2019 SSCE, “more robust monitoring by staff and external monitors also contributed to more sensitivity in detecting malpractices.”
He further said that some members of NECO staff alleged to have been involved in malpractice cases have been recommended to face the appropriate disciplinary measures stresing that once they fail to satisfactorily defend themselves, they would be dismissed or punished appropriately.
Gana adjudged the 2019 June/July SSCE to be a huge success stating that NECO has “once again delivered on its mandate.”
The Registrar also debunked an online publication urging candidates to log on to a different website to assess their results even when the results were not yet released by purchasing scratch cards emphasizing that, “NECO has abolished the use of card in all its operations as everything is now 100 per cent online.