Victoria Mbangwa
The National Examinations Council (NECO) is putting up its efforts to combat exam malpractice, with a strong warning to school administrators and other stakeholders against the registration of candidates by proxy.
This practice, NECO emphasizes, often leads to identity theft and the circulation of fake results.
In a statement issued by Azeez Sani, NECO’s Acting Director of Information and Public Relations, the council outlined its comprehensive measures to ensure the integrity of its examinations, These include the use of biometric data capturing devices, customized answer booklets, and the embossing of candidates’ photographs and dates of birth on original certificates. Additionally, NECO introduced the e-Verify platform, an online tool for the verification of NECO results, last year to enhance transparency.
The statement read: “Determined to eradicate all forms of examination malpractice, the council has put in place some measures to check impersonation in all its examinations.
“Some of the measures include the use of biometric data capturing device, use of customized answer booklets and embossing of photograph and date of birth of candidates on the original certificates.
“Also, the NECO e-Verify, an on-line platform for confirmation/ verification of NECO results was unveiled last year.”
NECO urged the public to remain vigilant, warning that any certificate not verifiable via the e-Verify platform is fake. The council also called on state education ministries and school owners to ensure that only authentic personal details are used when registering candidates for NECO exams.
“Members of the public are enjoined to note that, any certificate purported to have been issued by the council, and which cannot be verified or authenticated using the NECO e-Verify platform, is fake.
“The council, therefore, calls on state ministries of education and other school owners to ensure that only personal details of genuine candidates are used for registration in all NECO-conducted examinations.
“Meanwhile, candidates that were found culpable of impersonation in the just released 2024 Senior School Certificate Examination, SSCE, internal had their results withheld. This measure is part of the council’s robust policy to check all forms of examination malpractice.” It added.
