The National Examination Council (NECO) has reached out to the Department of State Services (DSS) for support in tackling cases of impersonation and malpractices ahead of its 2020 exams.
Abubakar Saddique, chairman of NECO’s governing board, disclosed this when he led Abubakar Gana, acting registrar of the council, and the management team on a visit to the office of Yusuf Bichi, director-general of the DSS, in Abuja.
According to Saddique, the initiative was among several other measures introduced by the council to checkmate cases of malpractices before, during and after its exams.
The chairman of NECO’S governing board explained that the several initiatives trawled by the exam body to tackle malpractices had minimal success because of lack of adequate security architecture in place.
“Our council has put in place measures aimed at checking examination malpractice. Despite this, without adequate security architecture, such measures will not yield the desired results,” he said.
“Among the measures we introduced is the biometric capturing of candidates to check impersonation at examination centres.
“We, therefore, appeal 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.”
On his part, Gana said that aside the biometric capturing, the council has procured additional 20 pick-up Hilux vans for examination logistics.
He said NECO’s partnership with the DSS would enable the exam body grapple with the challenges arising from globalisation and use of technology to prevent abuse.
“The world is experiencing rapid changes resulting from rapid development, these changes revolve around two major phenomena of emerging technology and globalisation,” he said.
“While these two phenomena have their advantages, they also come with disadvantages, especially when abused, which result in the scourge of examination malpractice, which has assumed a global dimension.”
In his reaction, Bichi reiterated the DSS’ commitment to upholding transparency and credibility in exams conducted by NECO. Cable
