NECO Releases 2018 Nov/ Dec Exam results, laments surge in malpractice

By Chika Onyesi

The National Examination Council (NECO) says there is an upward trend in examination malpractice among candidates who sat for the 2018 November December Senior School Certificate examinatio.

According to a statement signed by the acting registrar of NECO, Abubakar Mohammed Gana, out of the 59, 963 who took the examination in 2018, about 12,084 were involved in examination malpractice.

The exam body laments that the number is a sad increase from the 4,425 candidates captured committing malpractice in the same examination in 2017.

The figures are part of data shared by the exam body while announcing the release of the 2018 Nov/Dec NECO exam results.

  ‘‘The surge in malpractice reflects the desperation of candidates seeking to cut corners in examinations and the determination by the council to apprehend the culprits in line with our zero tolerance for malpractice’’ Abubakar Gana says.

Despite the surge in malpractice, the exam body also confirms an increase by 5.69% in the number of students who legitimately scored five credits and above in the NECO exams.

‘‘A comparative analysis of candidates who scored five credits and above, including English language and Mathematics for 2017 and 2018 shows 56.79% for 2017 and 62.48% for 2018’’

According to the NECO data; a total of 59, 963 candidates registered for the exam while the students were tested on a total of 28 subjects.

A total of 57, 842 sat for English language out of which 44, 497 representing 76.93% got either distinction or credit.

Also a total of 57, 275 sat for Mathematics, out of which 47,151 representing 82. 32% got either distinction or Credit.

While 37,069 candidates representing 62.48% got five credits and above including English language and Mathematics, another 47,031 candidates representing 79.27 got five credits and above irrespective of English and Mathematics.

The exam body has however advised candidates to log on onto www.neco.gov.ng, click on NECO results, follow the prompts to purchase a token that can be used to access their results.