Federal Ministry Of Education Embark On Monitoring As 70,603 Candidates Sit For National Common Entrance Examination

Mrs. Didi Walson-Jack
Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education during her visit to one of the schools to inspect the ongoing Common Entrance examination centres in Abuja

"We are happy with all that NECO has put in place to ensure a smoothy and seamless exercise." Walson-Jack.

"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." Sen. Lawal Usman Adamu, Senate Committee Chairman on Education, Basic and Secondary.

Primary education is universally accepted as the foundation laying level of education in all Nations of the World, as it  provides the mini-structural framework on which the quality of other levels of education is anchored.

Mrs Didi Walson-Jack, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, flanked on her left by  Senator Lawal Usman Adamu, Senate Committee Chairman On Education, Basic and Secondary with the Registrar, NECO, Prof. Dantani Wushishi on her left

It is in view of this that the Federal Ministry of Education and other stakeholders inorder to make sure that the right standard is maintained, embarked on Monitoring of the 2024/2025 National Common Entrance  Examination (NCEE) which was conducted by NECO on the 1st of June 2024.

During  the monitoring, the Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Education, Mrs. Didi Walson-Jack, expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the Common Entrance Examination.

Mrs Didi WaIson-Jack who disclosed that  there were 55 centres writing the NCE in the FCT, stated that everything went on smoothly and students were placed in conducive examination Halls to sit for the exercise.

Giving a general assessment of the conduct of the exercise,  she expressed satisfaction with what NECO has put in place to ensure a smooth and seamless exercise.

According to Mrs Didi Watson-Jack, 'We are happy with all that NECO has put in place to ensure a smoothy and seamless exercise." she stated.

Assessing the general overview of the conduct of the exam she said, "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.

NECO Register, Prof Wushishi in discussion with Mrs. Didi Walson-Jack

The Registrar of NECO, Professor Dantani Wushshi who was also on the team of monitoring the exam conduct revealed that a total of 70,603 candidates sat for the 2024 National Common Entrance Examination, NCEE, conducted by the National Examinations Council, NECO, into the 110 Unity Colleges nationwide on Saturday 1st of June 2024.

Wushshi noted that the number of registration in 2024  is lower than that of last year, as 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 giving a breakdown of candidates’ participation by gender, Wushishi said 33,335 males registered for the 2024 NCEE, while 37,268 females registered for the exercise totalling 70,603.

He lamented that the 2024 registration was lower than that of 2023 which had 34,064 males and 38,801 females, totalling 72,865.

The NECO boss attributed the low registration in 2024 to economic factors, revealing that NECO had slightly raised the registration fee and parents, who are grappling the effect of the economy, were responsible for sponsoring candidates at this level.

According to him,  "For the males and females, last year’s registration was higher than this year’s registration, this could be attributed to so many factors, economic factor is the most prevalent factor that could have  hindered his large registration,” 

The NECO boss who said pupils are always encouraged to always write the exam so that the State quotas can be filled in the 115 Unity schools stated that;  "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 is 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 

Wushishi also refuted claims of NECO registering underage children for the National Common Entrance Examination.

Senator Lawal Usman Adamu, Senate Committee Chairman On Education, Basic and Secondary.

Also speaking, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Education, Basic and Secondary, Sen. Lawal Adamu, said he rolled out NECO and JAMB sponsorship in the state and contributed over #250m for parents to be able to pay for NECO and JAMB examinations.

Senator Lawal Usman Adamu, who represents Kaduna Central Senatorial District in the Upper Chambers of the National Assembly, called on his colleagues at the National Assembly to provide an educational foundation for every child in their constituencies.

Speaking on his assessment of the NECO examination, 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."

Adamu, who also called on National Assembly members to provide an educational foundation for every child in their constituencies, lauded NECO for the smooth conduct of the exercise.

"This is the foundation for every child to get into the universities." Sen. Adamu stated.

Sen. Adamu commended NECO for the smooth conduct of the exercise.

Some of the schools visited on Saturday included Model Secondary School, Maitama and Government Day Secondary School, Wuse II, Abuja.