By Princess-Ekwi Ajide , Abuja Bureau Chief)
Female applicants are leading in this year’s National Common Entrance Examination according to a statistics by the National Examinations Council (NECO).
The statistics showed that out of the 69,828 candidates, that registered for the examination, 36,855 were female while the remaining 32,973 are males.
The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, who gave the figures when he led some top ministry officials and NECO officials on a monitoring exercise to some centres within the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja said the candidates are seeking admission into the 110 federal government colleges across the country for the 2022-2023 academic year.
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 the Permanent Secretary, David Adejo, noted that this year’s registration was unique such that it recorded more females than male candidates.
According to him, out of the 69,828 candidates, 36,855 were female applicants while the balance of 32,000 plus are male.
He described the exercise as hitch-free and peaceful following his observations from centres visited but failed to give the admission quota for this year.
The Minister however, told journalists that the laid out standards and criteria would be strictly adhered to in the selection of the successful candidates.
According to the Minister, as far as Nigerian basic education is concerned, be it the junior or secondary schools, unity schools remain the best hence it is competitive.
He said they are not looking at admitting all the over 69,000 candidates, but will ensure they take the best from the pupils observing the standards and the standard and criteria have been put on ground, so there will be no problem with all that.
Registrar and Chief Executive Officer, NECO, Professor Ibrahim Wushishi, said, Lagos State recorded the highest number of registered candidates for this year’s examination while Kebbi State recorded the least number of candidates for the examination.
Wushishi said, “Lagos state registered the highest number of candidates with 19,516 candidates, while the least registered state is Kebbi with 74 candidates; they had 37 males and 37 females”.
