BREAKDOWN: How candidates performed in 2020 SSCE – NECO

Over 30,000 candidates that sat for the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) in 2020, were involved in one examination malpractice or the other, the National Examination Council (NECO) said.

The council announced the release of the results at its headquarters in Minna, Niger State, on Wednesday.

The Registrar of the council, Godswill Obioma, said it was a defining moment for the council, given the challenging circumstances in which the examinations were conducted last year.

He also spoke about the challenges faced by the council during the conduct of the exam, ranging from the COVID-19 pandemic to the EndSARS protest staged nationwide.

“Gentlemen of the Press, my dear colleagues, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I am happy to inform you that despite the challenges of 2020, which affected the conduct of the 2020 SSCE (Internal) and our set targets, the Council has successfully concluded all the processes leading to the release of the results of the 2020 SSCE (Internal). The results are being released timeously after the last paper was written on the 28th November, 2020. This, no doubt is a big achievement,” he said.

Candidates can now access their results on NECO website: www.neco.gov.ng using their examination registration numbers.

Breakdown

According to the council, a total of 1.22 million (1,221,447) people registered for the examination. These include 665,830 males and 555,617 females.

However, 1.21 million (1,209,992) – 659,796 males representing 54.53 per cent and 550,126 females representing 45.46 per cent – actually wrote the exams.

It added that the number of candidates with Special Needs was 160.

The council also stated that the number of candidates who made credit and above in English Language is 973,331 representing 82.68 per cent while 1,060,100 made credit and above in Mathematics, representing 90.08 per cent of the candidates who sat for the examination.

ALSO READ: JUST IN: NECO releases 2020 SSCE results

Further breakdown showed that the number of candidates who made five Credits and above including English Language and Mathematics is 894,101, representing 73.89 per cent.

When compared to 2019 June/July SSCE figures of 829,787, there is an increase of 2.3 percentage points, the council added.

More over, the number of candidates who made five Credits and above irrespective of English Language and Mathematics is 1,112,041 representing 91.91 per cent. When compared to 2019 June/July SSCE figures of 1,042,989, there is an increase of 2.01 per cent.

On irregularities, the number of candidates involved in various forms of malpractice in 2020 is 33,470 representing 2.61 per cent, whereas 40,630 representing 3.53 per cent of cases were recorded in 2019.

The council announced that owing to its zero-tolerance stance against malpractices, 11 schools – four in Adamawa, two in Kaduna, two in Katsina, two in Niger, one in Taraba and one in the FCT – have been recommended for de-recognition for two years for their involvement in mass cheating/whole school cases.

“Also, twenty-four (24) Supervisors were blacklisted for various offences ranging from poor supervision, Aiding and Abetting, Connivance with non-candidates to write answer on chalkboard and so on.”