No fewer than 25,400 candidates on Saturday sat for the National Common Entrance Examination (NCEE) organised by the National Examination Council (NECO) in Lagos.
The council’s head, Lagos Zonal Office, Mr Niyi Aribisala, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
NAN reports that the examination was for admission into the JSS 1 arm of the 104 Unity Colleges around the country.
According to Aribisala, the candidates are spread across 110 centres in the state, with all the necessary logistics for the smooth conduct of the examination fully in place.
He said that so far, the examination had continued to win the confidence of parents nationwide going by the way it was being conducted.
Aribisala said the standard of the examination was in line with best practices and added that with the requisite logistics in place, it would be difficult to compromise the process.
“So far, I want to say that the examination is going on smoothly by the reports I have received from my supervisors from the various centres across the state.
“I also want to commend the Lagos State Government for the support it had been giving to the council in the course of conducting the examination over the years.
“Its support has been quite tremendous in terms of facilities and otherwise.
“On several occasions, the state had gone a step ahead to even cancel their monthly environmental sanitation exercises, all in a bid to ensure a hitch-free conduct of the examinations.
“Such understanding by the state government has indeed assisted the council in the dispensation of its duties in the state.
“We shall forever continue to appreciate the gesture as we partner to move the country forward,” he said.
Meanwhile, a NAN correspondent who monitored the examination, reports that the accreditation of the candidates commenced at 8 a.m. in most of the centres across the state.
Parents took their children to their various centres as early as 7 a.m. since the monthly sanitation exercise had been cancelled by the government.
At the the Ogba Junior Grammar School, Ikeja, Ojodu Junior High School, the examination commenced at 12.30 p.m. after the accreditation of the candidates had been carried out.
Mrs Mabel Chinye, a parent whose child also participated in the examination, described it as “well organised’’, and added that with the necessary logistics in place only the best would make it.
“I like the way the examination is organised. I am not bothered by the fact that we are locked out of the school premises where the examination is holding.
“I know that it is for the good of the children. You know as typical Nigerians, most parents will want to even go into the hall with their children and wards but that is not possible here today.
“I think the organisers of the examination are doing a great job and I pray that they continue in this light to get the best from our children whom we are looking up to as our future leaders,” she said.
At Ikeja Junior High School, one of the invigilators who pleaded anonymity, told NAN that the conduct of the examination was one of the best in recent times as it was devoid of hitches,” he said.
(NAN)
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