On the Proposed Scrapping of NECO by Frank Onuoha

On April 3, it was reported that the government has concluded plans to abide by some of the recommendations made in May 2012 of the Stephen Oronsaye-led Presidential Committee on the Rationalisation and Restructuring of Federal Government Corporation, Commissions and Agencies. Part of the committee’s recommendations included reducing the number of statutory agencies (currently at 263) to 161. The move, according to the committee, would save more than N862 billion by 2015. One of the agencies slated to get the cut is the National Examinations Council (NECO). The report suggested that the West African Examination Council (WAEC) take over the functions and infrastructure of NECO. To cater for the many NECO candidates it will be inheriting, WAEC will need to conduct two batches of examinations a year: one in January and another probably in November.
I don’t doubt that the Oronsaye-led committee made these recommendations to check the embarrassing down-turn in the Nigerian education sector. Also, many Nigerians have called for a reduction in the cost of public administration over the years (a plea which has largely fallen on deaf ears). The latest development, if carried out, might be the boldest response by the government to this issue so far. However, before we roll out the drums to cheer, let us look at the recent history of educational agencies in Nigeria. When NECO was established in April 1999 through a decree by the regime of Abdusalami Abubakar, the agency was a response to over two decades of public agitation for a national examination body that would provide a viable option to WAEC, which held a monopoly. It was a source of hope for candidates who couldn’t gain admission to the university of their choice as a result of a missing WAEC result. Such was its wide appeal that by January 2000, NECO offices were established in all the 36 states of the federation. NECO was also to provide a cheaper alternative to WAEC, as well as improve poor examination standards by reducing examination malpractice and the high rate of failures across the country. Although the sad truth is that NECO has not lived up to expectations, neither has WAEC. Issues of examination malpractice continue to increase and candidate failure has reached record levels. Of the 1,200,765 candidates who registered for the NECO examinations in 2009, only 126,500 (10 percent) secured the minimum five credits (including English and Mathematics) needed to gain university admission. WAEC candidates did not fare any better: only 356,981 (25.99 percent) of the 1,373,009 candidates got five credit passes and above in English, Mathematics and at least three other subjects. Prior to the establishment of NECO, WAEC was plagued by various issues, ranging from candidates not being able to easily access their centres before the examination date to poor documentation, examination malpractice, and missing results. Most of these issues still persist today and may multiply with the many NECO candidates WAEC will have to absorb. Moreover, the scrapping of NECO is essentially a return to the infamous time when WAEC held the examination monopoly. Under that system, corruption, nepotism and discrimination were – and may become again – inevitable. As Nigeria has the highest number of out-of-school children in the world – 10.5 million according to UNESCO – one wonders in what way leaving WAEC solely in charge of examinations benefits Nigeria. In a country of 170 million people where over two million students go through the examination process yearly, having two or more efficiently-run bodies in charge (especially one which can provide a counterbalance to WAEC, a regional agency) is in the best interests of our students. Cheating and malpractice is a problem which also must be tackled at the level of the students’ families, the classrooms, and the teachers. While it is important that the government curb excessive spending, this should not be done to the detriment of Nigeria’s youth.