The Nigerian government has blamed current economic hardship on the drop in the number of applicants for the National Common Entrance examination, NCEE as only 70, 608 sat for the test on Saturday, June one.
The NCEE enables primary school pupils to gain admission into any of the 115 federal government colleges.
70,608 candidates sitting for this year’s National Common Entrance Examination, NCEE conducted by the National Examinations Council, NECO to enable them to gain admission into the 115 Federal Government Colleges commonly referred to as Unity schools.
This year’s figure is slightly below the number of over 72,000 candidates who sat for the 2023 NCEE.
The Nigerian government attributes the drop to the current economic hardship being witnessed in the country, but expresses hope for a positive change with regards to several government policies toward economic recovery.
The Registrar of NECO, Prof. Ibrahim Wushishi encourages well meaning Nigerians to support the eduaction of children from less privileged families, by sponsooring them to sit the for NCEE, just like other examinations conducted for the higher classes where politicians and states register for indigent children by way of sponsorship
This year’s examination witnessed an increase in the number of female candidates, with 37,000 plus females as against 33, 335 males.
Editor : Ena Agbanoma
