By Ngozi Nwankwo
National Examinations Council, NECO, has released the 2023 Senior School Certificate Examination, SSCE, 58 days after the final paper was written on August 11.
Registrar of NECO, Prof Dantani Ibrahim Wushishi, who announced the result at a press briefing in Minna, Niger State, on Tuesday, said the 2023 SSCE was the best in recent years.
The NECO boss, 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.
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 and Mathematics, representing 84.68 per cent.
The 2023 SSCE internal was conducted from Monday 10th July to Friday 11th August 2023, while marking exercise commenced from Wednesday 30th August to Friday 15th September 2023.
According to him, the release of the 2023 SSCE comes 58 days after the last written paper due to the management’s desire to ensure that the complete results are released.
On candidates with special needs, he said a total of 1,542 candidates sat for the examination, out of which 913 candidates had hearing impairment and 162 candidates had visual impairment.
Other candidates include; 103 candidates with Albinism, 61 candidates with Autism, 149 candidates with low vision, 154 candidates with Adermatoglyphia, among others.
Wushishi also disclosed 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 and Mathematics is 737,308, representing 61.60%.
“Number of candidates with five Credits and above, irrespective of English and Mathematics is 1,013,611, representing 84.68%.
“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%) as against 13,594 (0.13%) in 2022 representing 61.60%,” 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.
“Similarly, fifty two (52) Supervisors were recommended for blacklisting due to poor Supervision, Aiding and Abetting during the examination,” he said.
He also announced that Abia State had the highest number of candidates with five credits and above, including Mathematics and English with 85.53 per cent, adding that Adamawa State came second with 51.5 per cent, while Kebbi State came last with a performance of 0.310 per cent.