The National Examinations Council, NECO, has announced that it has suspended its ongoing internal Senior Secondary Schools Certificate Examinations, SSCE, indefinitely.
The council, in a statement by its Head, Information and Public Relations Division, Azeez Sani, explained that the action was taken by its governing board, following the current turn of events in the country.
It particularly attributed the action to the closure of schools and the curfew imposed by some state governors to safeguard lives following developments around the country.
The imposition of the curfew, according to NECO, has prevented free movement of materials meant for the examination.
The statement reads, “The Governing Board of the National Examinations Council (NECO) at its Special Meeting held on Thursday, 22nd October 2020 reviewed the on-going 2020 SSCE(Internal) nationwide.
“The Council had in a press release, dated 21st October 2020, informed the general public of rescheduling some papers of the 2020 on-going SSCE.
“Arising from that meeting, the Governing Board resolved that the 2020 SSCE(Internal) be postponed indefinitely in view of the current security challenges, occasioned by the ENDSARS protests, which disrupted the smooth conduct of the examinations in some parts of the country.
“In making this decision, the Board noted that due to these security challenges: Some state governments imposed a curfew and closed schools in order to safeguard lives and property. In the circumstances, it has become difficult for the Council to move examination materials across the country; Students in the affected locations were unable to sit for the papers already scheduled in the examination time table.
“The Governing Board further resolved, that when normalcy returns, the Council will continue with the conduct of the examinations in all States.
“While regretting any inconveniences this postponement may cause our esteemed stakeholders, the Council has however taken this decision in order to maintain the integrity and security of its examination procedures for seamless conduct of the Council’s examination.”
