For the first time in six years, an excellent improvement has been recorded in the results of the Senior School Certificate Examinations (SSCE) released by the National Examinations Council (NECO).
The results as released by the NECO's Registrar, Professor Promise Okpala, revealed that over 50 per cent of the over 1 million candidates that sat for the core subjects of English language, mathematics, economics and biology got credit passes and above.
This is against the persistent and dismal 20 per cent recorded in the last five years.
According to Professor Okpala, there was a marked improvement in other core subjects of Chemistry, Physics, Government and Commerce as over 45 per cent of the candidates scored credit passes and above as against 15 per cent last year.
However, a massive failure was recorded in most Nigerian languages as only about 10 per cent scored credit passes and above in the minority languages of Edo, Ibibio and Efik.
Professor Okpala further revealed that the council has banned 13 schools across Imo, Anambra, Kano, Cross-rivers, Nassarawa, Rivers and Benue states for a period of two years for their involvement in mass examinations malpractice.