- Lagos records highest number, Zamfara Lowest
Kuni Tyessi in Abuja
In preparation for admission into the 104 Federal Government Colleges within the country, 79,878 candidates saturday sat for the National Common Entrance Examination conducted by the National Examination Council, (NECO).
Out of the total number, Lagos state has the highest number in terms of enrolment with over 25,000 candidates and distantly followed by the Federal Capital Territory and Rivers state with 7,699 and 4,810 respectively. The states with the lowest enrolment are Zamfara, Kebbi and Taraba with 28, 50 and 95 respectively.
The Chief Executive Officer and Registrar of NECO, Prof. Charles Uwakwe, while responding to questions at the Government Day Secondary School, Wuse, Zone 3 in Abuja, revealed that the enrolment is based on state of residence and not state of origin as thought by many.
He said the ministry will determine the number of students to be admitted as it determines the carrying capacity and in addition, children with special needs have been adequately taken care off right from the period of documentation.
He said “79,878 pupils are taking the exams, that’s the current figure and it is still on-going. Last night I got another 150 from one of the south- eastern states.
But like I said, the minister insisted that we should keep the doors open for our children so that no one will be disenfranchised and that is what we have done and we are very hopeful.
“The ministry will determine how many will be admitted. They determine the carrying capacity. Lagos has the highest number of pupils that have enrolled for the exams and this is determined by the number of enrolment within a state and not by state of origin. Over 25,000 enrolled in Lagos. Zamfara has the lowest.
“There’s provision for children with special needs and when the documentation was done, we tried to take care and take that into consideration. So on the day of exams, we took adequate care of themâ€, he added.
Meanwhile, it would be recalled that the minister of education, Malam Adamu Adamu had expressed worry over low registration for the examination and had directed that registration portal provided by NECO should remain open till April 13, 2018 to enable more eligible candidates register. This, he said, was necessary to boost federal government’s drive to guarantee access and equity in educational development in Nigeria.
According to him, “the report of a meeting of major stakeholders in the education sector indicated that as at March 03, 2018, total number of candidates registered stood at 71,294 as against 80,421 that wrote the examination in 2017.
“The report further shows three states with highest registrations so far as Lagos with 24,465 candidates, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja 7,699 and River State with 4,810 candidates respectively. On the other hand, three states with extreme low registration are: Zamfara with only 28 candidates, Kebbi 50 and Taraba 95 candidates respectively.â€
