The National Examinations Council has introduced new measures to reduce examination malpractice and strengthen the integrity of its examinations, while dismissing claims that it establishes or operates “miracle centres.”
Registrar of NECO, Professor Dantani Wushishi, disclosed this while discussing the council’s efforts to tackle examination malpractice.
He said the reforms contributed to a 64.74 per cent reduction in malpractice cases recorded during the 2026 Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) Internal.
According to Wushishi, the number of candidates involved in various forms of examination malpractice dropped from 3,878 in 2025 to 1,406 in 2026.
He attributed the decline to the increased use of technology in examination administration, including biometric verification, candidate photo-gating, barcode systems, computer-based testing (CBT) and the randomisation of examination questions.
Wushishi said NECO began expanding its use of information and communication technology in examination management after the current leadership assumed office in 2021.
He explained that technology had been introduced across different stages of the examination process, including test development, examination conduct and marking.
According to him, CBT has been particularly useful in reducing malpractice, while the randomisation of questions makes it more difficult for candidates sitting close to one another to receive identical questions.
He added that the same approach was being applied to many subjects conducted through the traditional pen-and-paper method, as NECO currently operates a dual examination system.
However, Wushishi noted that CBT also comes with its own challenges, adding that the council would continue to expand its use where possible.
The registrar further disclosed that a significant number of malpractice cases were detected during the marking of examination scripts by examiners.
He said NECO was also addressing loopholes associated with continuous assessment, which contributes to candidates’ final results but is largely generated and submitted by schools.
According to him, a committee established by the Minister of Education and made up of heads of examination bodies reviewed the challenges surrounding continuous assessment and proposed measures to reduce manipulation.
One of the recommendations was to reduce the contribution of continuous assessment to candidates’ final scores from 30 per cent to 20 per cent.
The committee also recommended that schools should no longer submit continuous assessment scores as a single cumulative figure.
Instead, schools are expected to submit first-term scores by February, second-term scores by March and final-term scores by April.
Wushishi said NECO had developed a continuous assessment portal integrated into its main website to allow schools to submit the scores electronically.
He explained that once scores are submitted through the system, schools would no longer be able to alter them, thereby reducing opportunities for manipulation.
On the issue of “miracle centres,” Wushishi denied that NECO establishes or operates such centres.
He said the council only accredits schools that meet its requirements to serve as examination centres and conducts periodic reassessments to ensure they continue to meet the required standards.
According to him, NECO conducts accreditation exercises in February and October.
Wushishi also said the council has mechanisms for identifying examination centres suspected of facilitating malpractice.
He explained that when a centre displays characteristics associated with examination malpractice, NECO quietly conducts an assessment using its accreditation records to determine whether further action is necessary.
The registrar also addressed an incident involving the abduction of a NECO supervisor and other examination personnel at a public secondary school in Kogi State during the 2026 examination.
He said the school was subsequently described as a “miracle centre” by the state Ministry of Information, a description he disputed.
According to Wushishi, the school was established by the government about 40 years ago and had been accredited by NECO as an examination centre since 2000.
He said the school had consistently presented candidates for NECO examinations, with the number of candidates never exceeding about 70.
He also noted that the supervisors assigned to the centre were employees of the Kogi State Ministry of Education who had served for several years.
Wushishi questioned the basis for describing the government-owned and accredited school as a “miracle centre.”
He said state governments also have a role to play in addressing the proliferation of such centres, given their responsibility for public schools and regulation of private schools within their jurisdictions.
The registrar further disclosed that NECO had introduced a system for verifying the qualifications of teachers engaged in marking its examinations through the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria.
He explained that during the accreditation process, schools would provide details of their teachers, including information on their TRCN certification.
The information would then be cross-checked through an interface between the NECO and TRCN portals before qualified teachers are recruited for examination-related duties.
Wushishi said the combination of technology, question randomisation, stricter accreditation procedures, continuous assessment controls and teacher verification was aimed at strengthening the credibility of NECO examinations and further reducing examination malpractice.
