Experts in the education sector have demanded a critical examination of existing laws governing the National Examination Council (NECO) to reflect technological advancements and evolving needs of the educational landscape.
The call was made on Monday at a one-day retreat organized by NECO titled “Legislative Functions: The Imperatives of Achieving NECO’s Mandate and the Challenges of Examination Legislation in Nigeria,” in Abuja.
Governor Mohammed Umar Bago emphasised the importance of updating laws to address issues of artificial intelligence, stating, “For instance, artificial intelligence has come to stay so our law must also be able to key into this technological advancements. So this retreat is timely.”
NECO’s Registrar/Chief Executive, Professor Ibrahim Dantani Wushishi, highlighted the challenges faced by the examination body, including infrastructure constraints, a surge in candidate enrollment, inadequate funding, and examination malpractice. He stressed the need for a review of the existing laws of the Council.
The Minister of State for Education, Sununu Tanko, represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Didi Esther Walson-Jack, urged participants to actively engage in discussions to enable NECO to effectively achieve its mandate. Walson-Jack emphasised the urgent need to review and modernize the legislative framework to address challenges such as examination malpractice and digital transformation.
The stakeholders also called for broader engagement beyond the retreat to ensure input from other relevant parties to develop a robust policy and laws for NECO.
The retreat highlighted the critical need for a legislative framework that aligns with technological advancements and addresses the evolving needs of the educational landscape.
