The National Examinations Council (NECO) has raised alarm over the rising cases of malpractices in its November/December Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations (SSCE).
In the result unveiled on Friday in Minna, the Acting Registrar of the Council, Abubakar Gana said 12, 084 candidates were caught for different cases of malpractices in the Nov/Dec 2018 exercise.
According to him, the figure of malpractices more than doubled that of 2017 where a total of 4, 425 candidates were involved in the offences.
The offences, he explained, include impersonation, leakages, mass cheating and entering into examination halls with foreign materials.
He also alleged cases where candidates who registered for the examinations were absent during the exercises but their answers script (s) get slot in amongst other cases.
The analysis of malpractices by subject shows that the cases involving Mathematics and English Language which are compulsory for admission into higher institutions were more.
In the analysis, Mathematics top the malpractices chart with 1,967 cases while English Language has 1, 759 cases.
The Registrar said the upward trend in malpractices cases reflects the desperation by candidates seeking to cut corners and the resolve of the management to bring such elements to book.
He said a total of 59, 963 candidates sat for the examinations out of which 37, 069, representing 62, 48 percent got five credits and above, including English Language and Mathematics.
He also said that 47, 031 candidates, representing 79.27 percent got five credits and above irrespective of English Language and Mathematics.