Gom Mirian
In a bid to boost the operations of the National Examination Council (NECO), the Federal Government (FG) has inaugurated 70 operational vehicles and a state-of-the-art scanning centre for the agency.
These are aimed at enhancing the conduct of NECO’s examinations by ensuring the security and timely delivery of examination materials to examination centres nationwide.
In his remarks at the inauguration ceremony, the Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education, Mr. David Andrew Adejo, commended NECO Registrar, Prof. Dantani Wushishi, for his innovative measures in ensuring the credibility of the assessment process.
The Minister emphasised the administration’s commitment to transforming the education sector in the country.
The purchase of the logistics vehicles is expected to address the challenge of leakage of examination question papers, providing ease of transportation for examination materials. This development will significantly enhance the integrity of the examination process, which has been compromised in the past.
The NECO Scanning Centre, equipped with Optical Mark Reader (OMR) technology, will ensure efficient grading of students and candidates in various examinations conducted by the Council. It will also streamline the grading process and expedite the release of examination results, benefiting both students and educational institutions.
Other projects commissioned include the NECO Driver’s Pool, a block of three classrooms for the Senior Secondary component of NECO Staff School, and the Data Centre.
Prof. Wushishi expressed his commitment to providing quality assessment and ensuring the integrity of the nation’s secondary school examinations.
He said: “Establishing and equipping the NECO Data Centre and Scanning Centre in the era of digitalisation, data management and security is paramount. The establishment and equipping of the NECO data centre and scanning centre represent a crucial step towards modernization and efficiency.
“This facility will house our sensitive examination data, ensuring its integrity and safeguarding it from unauthorized access. Additionally, the scanning centre will expedite the processing of examination scripts, leading to faster result releases.”
Prof. Wushishi also announced the ongoing construction of three new NECO state offices in Gombe, Katsina, and Kogi states, which are at 70 per cent completion.
