The National Examinations Council (NECO) has released the results of external candidates of the 2020 Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE).

The release of the results was announced yesterday by the Registrar/Chief Executive of the NECO, Mr. Godswill Obioma, who disclosed that 39,503 out of 41,459 candidates that were registered sat for the examination.

A statement issued by Head, Information and Public Relations Division of NECO, Mr. Azeez Sani, said that the registrar explained that a total of 26,277 candidates obtained five credits and above including English Language and Mathematics.

Obioma reiterated the council’s zero tolerance for examination malpractice and noted that appropriate standards and excellence were maintained right from the planning stage to the release of results.

The registrar disclosed that 6,465 cases of examination malpractice were recorded in the 2020 SSCE External as against 17,004 cases in 2019.

He noted that the reduction in the level of malpractice was as a result of deepened monitoring of the examination by members of the governing board, management and senior staff of the council.

The registrar explained that four supervisors, who were found culpable of aiding and abetting, have been blacklisted and would no longer be engaged in the conduct of NECO examinations.

Similarly, one examination centre in Ogun State had its accreditation withdrawn for intimidation, aiding, abetting examination malpractices and attempted inducement of officials of the NECO.

Obioma further disclosed that the results of 256,000 internal candidates who missed some papers during the 2020 SSCE due to the ENDSARS protests in some states and later retake them during the 2020 SSCE (External) would be released alongside those of external candidates today.

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 explained that

this necessitated the rescheduling of various examinations organised by the NECO, for instance, 2020 SSCE (external), which ought to have been concluded in November/December 2020 was conducted in February/March 2021.

The registrar reiterated the council’s commitment to conducting credible examinations to improve the quality of education in the country.

Obioma also announced that the NECO has scheduled its 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 Saturday, May 29, 2021; Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) Internal is scheduled from Monday, July 5 to Monday, August 16, 2021; Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) is scheduled for Monday, August 23 to Monday, September 6, 2021, in order to enable students at that level cover enough subject matter for the examination.

Justin Nwosu

Justin Nwosu is the founder and publisher of Flavision. His core interest is in writing unbiased news about Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. He’s a strong adherent of investigative journalism, with a bent on exposing corruption, abuse of power and societal ills.