*Economic Factor Hindering Registration, Says NECO Registrar
Ensuring right standard is maintained, the Federal Ministry of Education on Saturday monitored some centres of the National Common Entrance Examination (NCEE), being conducted by the National Examination Council (NECO) in Abuja.
The examination is for primary six pupils seeking admission into Federal Unity Colleges in Nigeria.
70,608 pupils had registered for the 2024 examination that took place across the nation on Saturday.
At the end of the inspection, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, who led the delegation, Mrs. Didi Walson-Jack, expressed satisfaction with the conduct and preparations for the examination.
She spoke with journalists at the end of the inspection done alongside the NECO Registrar, Prof Dantani Wushishi and the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Education, Senator Lawal Adamu.
The Permanent Secretary said "We just been monitoring the ongoing National Common Entrance Examination in the FCT. We have about 55 centres and we have monitored about 3 centres.
"Generally, I will say everything is going on smoothly, we went into the classrooms and the students are sitting on chairs and tables. They are doing the exams comfortably. There is cooling in the rooms and there is no problem so far.
"We are happy with all that NECO has put in place to ensure a smoothy and seamless exercise." she stated
The NECO Registrar disclosed that a total of 70,608 pupils registered for the examination nationwide.
Noting that the number of registration in 2024 fell short of the figure for last year, he attributed the reduction to the prevailing economic situation in the country.
He said "So far for this NECO exam, we have 33,335 male who registered and 37,000 plus females. And we have total of 70,608 that have so far registered, which is below last year.
"Last year was about 72,000 plus. So you find out that general for the male, female registration last year was higher than this year's registration. This could be attributed to so many factors, economic factor is most prevalent factor that maybe hindered this registration.
While some pupils offered to pay cash and money transfer for services just before the exams started, he said that NECO has always been encouraging parents to always follow all the guidelines of NECO.
He also said pupils are always encouraged to always write the exam so that the state quotas can be filled in the 115 unity schools.
On the low registration, he added "We all know what is happening in the economy and it's affecting everybody. And the bulk of the population are in the rural areas and in some states they don't sponsor candidates at this level.
"It's the parents that sponsor candidates and sometimes politicians, sometimes traditional rulers. And you can see why the economic factor is the most prevailing factor hindering this registration," he stated
According to Senator Lawal Adamu, sponsorship was rolled out for students doing the NECO and JAMB in his constituency and throughout his state.
"Over N250 million was given out to pay for NECO and JAMB examinations." he said
He also called on other Senators and House of Representatives members in the National Assembly to emulate such gesture in their constituencies.
"Because this is the foundation for every child to get into the universities" he added
Assessing NECO activities, he said "NECO has done very well and the students are comfortable writing their exams like the Permanent Secretary said. The next level is to upgrade to where they will write the exam with computer, like JAMB."
Some of the schools visited on Saturday included Model Secondary School, Maitama and Government Day Secondary School, Wuse II, Abuja.