NECO seeks DSS partnership on exam malpractices
JOHN ONAH, Abuja
The National Examinations Council (NECO) says it’s considering partnership with the Department of State Services (DSS) to check malpractice in the conduct of the Council’s examination.
A statement signed by the Head, Information and Public Relations Division at NECO, Azeez Sani, said the partnership would ensure the credibility of the Council’s examination.
The Chairman, Governing Board of NECO, Dr. Abubakar Saddique who led the councils’ management team on a courtesy visit to the Director-General of DSS in Abuja, said that the Council has put in place measures aimed at checking examination malpractice, but noted that without adequate security architecture, such measures would not yield the desired results.
He explained that among the measures introduced is the biometric capturing of candidates to check impersonation at examination centres.
The chairman appealed to the personnel of DSS to strengthen their collaboration with NECO to prevent any form of malpractice before, during and after the conduct of the Council examination.
Biometric Capturing
The Acting Registrar/Chief Executive, Mr. Abubakar Mohammed Gana, in his remarks, enumerated some reforms introduced under his leadership in the Council to include the development of an intractable, robust, secure and user-friendly corporate website, introduction of full-scale biometric capturing of candidates at examination centres.
Gana noted that NECO has enjoyed the full support and co-operation of DSS through the provision of covert operations which had helped in reducing incidence of examination malpractice.
According to Gana, “ the world is experiencing rapid changes resulting from rapid development, these changes revolve around two major phenomena of emerging Technology and Globalization” .
“While these two phenomena have their advantages, they also come with disadvantages, especially when the scourge of examination malpractice is assuming a global dimension.”
The Acting Registrar also sought for the collaboration of DSS in building an intractable open and secure filing system for the Council to prevent possible incidence of tempering with staff records, especially in the face of the on-going Staff Certificate verification exercise.
Gana appealed to the Director-General of DSS to ensure that fraudsters who attempt to compromise NECO examinations are not only arrested and investigated, but prosecuted to serve as deterrent to others.
The Director-General, Mr. Yusuf Bichi, in his address, pledged continued support of his Department in ensuring the credibility of NECO examinations.