No fewer than 69,828 pupils Saturday sat for the 2022 National Common Entrance Examination (NECO) for admission into the 110 federal government colleges across the country.
Malam Adamu Adamu, the minister of education, disclosed this when he led some top ministry officials and NECO officials on a monitoring exercise to some centres in Abuja.
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The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that some of the centres visited included Government Secondary School, Lugbe; Junior Secondary School, Lugbe; and Federal Government College, Kwali, Abuja.
Adamu, who was represented by Mr David Adejo, the permanent secretary in the ministry, added that out of the total figure, there were more female applicants than their male counterparts in the ongoing examination.
“Of the 69,000 plus, we have 36,855 female applicants while the balance of 32,000 plus are male,” he said.
On his assessment of the exercise, he noted that the examination had been hitch-free and peaceful.
He added that laid out standards and criteria would strictly be adhered to in the selection of successful candidates.
“As far as Nigerian basic education is concerned, and in respect to junior and secondary schools, unity schools still remain the best, so it has to be competitive.
“We are not looking at taking all the 69,000 plus; we are taking the best of the number; and there are standards that measure what you take.
On his part, Professor Ibrahim Wushishi, the registrar and chief executive officer of the NECO, confirmed that Lagos State recorded the highest number of registered candidates for this year’s examination. (NAN)
