- By Kamil Opeyemi
The National Examinations Council, NECO, has released the 2023 Senior School Certificate Examination, SSC, 58 days after the final paper was written on August 11.
The NECO Registrar, Prof. Dantani Wushishi, announcing the result at a news conference in Minna, Niger, on Tuesday said the 2023 SSCE was the best in recent years.
Wushishi, who gave a breakdown of candidates’ performance said 737,308 candidates, representing 61.60 per cent of the total number of applicants scored five credits and above including Mathematics and English Language.
Wushishi disclosed that a total of 1,196,985, comprising 616,398 males and 580,587 females sat for the exam out of which 1,013,611 candidates scored five credits and above, irrespective of English Language and Mathematics, representing 84.68 per cent.
The 2023 SSCE internal examination was conducted from Monday, July 10 to Friday, Aug. 11, while marking exercise commenced from Aug. 30 to Sept. 15.
He said the release of the 2023 SSCE came promptly due to the management’s desire to ensure that complete results are available.
On candidates with special needs, he said a total of 1,542 candidates sat for the examination, out of which 913 candidates have hearing impairment and 162 candidates have visual impairment.
According to him, other candidates include; 103 candidates with albinism, 61 candidates with autism, 149 candidates with low vision, 154 candidates with adermatoglyphia, among others.
Wushishi also said that the number of candidates involved in various forms of malpractice in 2023 is 12,030, representing 0.07 per cent as against 13,594, 0.13 per cent in 2022.
“It gladdens my heart to notify you that reports we have received so far indicate that the 2023 SSCE internal has been certified the best in recent times. We are very thankful to God for this and to all those that made it possible.
“Number of candidates registered for the examination is 1,205,888, representing 621,084 males and 584,804 Females.
“Number of candidates that sat is 1,196,985, representing 616,398 Males and 580,587 females. Number of candidates with five credits and above, including English Language and Mathematics is 737,308, representing 61.60 per cent,” he said.
He added that the number of candidates with five credits and above, irrespective of English Language and Mathematics was 1,013,611, representing 84.68 per cent.
“Number of candidates with special needs is 1,542, with the breakdown as follows: 913 candidates with hearing impairment 162 candidates with visual impairment 103 candidates with albinism, 61 candidates with autism, 149 candidates with low vision
154 candidates with adermatoglyphia, i.e. candidates with no fingerprints.
“Number of candidates involved in various forms of malpractice in 2023 is 12,030 (0.07 per cent) as against 13,594 (0.13 per cent) in 2022 representing 61.60 per cent,” he said.
Wushishi also noted that 93 schools were found to have been involved in mass cheating and “will be invited to the council for discussion, after which appropriate sanctions will be applied.”
He also said that 52 supervisors were recommended for blacklisting due to poor supervision, aiding and abetting during the examination.
He further said that Abia has the highest number of candidates with five credits and above, including Mathematics and English Language with 85.53 per cent, adding that Adamawa came second with 51.5 per cent, while Kebbi came last with a performance of 0.310 per cent.