As the conduct of the 2023 Senior School Examinations gets underway, the Registrar of the National Examinations Council, Prof Dantani Wushishi, on Friday vowed the exam body would not tolerate actions that undermine the integrity of its examinations across the country including examination malpractice.
Wushishi gave the warning in Jos on Friday while briefing journalists after touring some schools to monitor the ongoing SSCE examinations in Plateau State.
The Registrar said, “We have visited other states before coming to Plateau State and interacted with the stakeholders as well.
“From what we have found from the places we have visited, the examination is ongoing as planned. There is no major issue as far as the conduct of the examination is concerned. From our own end, we have done the delivery of materials and it has been very fantastic. I can tell you that the 2023 examination is the most successful.
“On what the examinations body is doing to stop the problem of examinations malpractice, the Registrar said “Education is very important. One major important measure we have put in place to stop the issue of examination malpractice is awareness.
“We have sponsored jingles in the national media on malpractice and we have internal monitors to monitor exams. We have different forms of malpractice and sanctions. So at the end of the ongoing examinations, we will assess the level of involvement of malpractice by candidates, supervisors and other staff involved through our malpractice committee because we need to stop examinations malpractice in our school system.”
He noted the economic challenges currently troubling the nation have slightly affected the number of students that registered for the SSCE exams this year.
Wushishi said, “This year we registered a total of One million, two hundred and five thousand, eight hundred and eighty-eight as against last year’s 1,209,000 so there is a slight decline in the number. This year, 621,74 male candidates were registered while 584, 814 female candidates were registered.”
He attributed the drop in registration to the inability of state governments to register more candidates as is often the case, due to the economic challenges being witnessed around the country.
He said “Some states are indebted to NECO, but they are responding positively to that. As of last year, the amount of money being owed was N3.3 billion, but there is considerable response on their part.”
The PUNCH reports that some of the schools visited by the Registrar include Air Force Boys secondary school, Jos, Kings and Queens Academy, and Emmanuel International College, among others.
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