The National Examination Council (NECO) has released the 2015 November /December External Senior School Certificate Examination results.

The Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of NECO, Prof. Promise Okpala, who announced this in Minna, said 50,060 candidates registered, out of which 47,507 sat for English Language while 47,554 sat for Mathematics. Out of the number that sat for English,29,718 representing 62.55 per cent obtained credit pass while 32, 484 that sat for Mathematics representing 68.30% passed at credit level.

Out of 39,389 candidates that sat for Biology, 17,227 or 43.73% obtained credit pass, while in Chemistry, out of 22,284 candidates that sat for the examination, 11,951 representing 53.63% made it at credit level.

Similarly, out of 22,201 candidates who sat for Physics, 818 or 3.68% passed the subject at credit level.

In Geography, 19, 781 candidates sat for the examination, and 3,851 or 19.46% passed at credit level.

The performance of candidates in Government indicates that out of 23,497 candidates that wrote the subject, 10,226 or 43.52% made it at credit level.

In Economics, 39,406 candidates sat for the examination and 23,991 or 60.88% passed the subject at credit level.

Analysis of students’ performance at state level with five credits and above, including Mathematics and English shows Delta State topping the chat with 83.51 per cent, Edo, 83.42 per cent and Lagos 82.39 per cent. Those with the least performance are Zamfara, 38.58 per cent; Katsina, 45.77 per cent; Jigawa, 46.52 per cent; Kebbi, 46.52 per cent and Niger, 57.57 per cent.

The Registrar explained that “in view of the fact that the examination was for private candidates who were no longer in the school system and looking for one or two credits, the desperation to engage in malpractice was high. This led to an increase in the percentage of candidates involved in malpractice, compared to the figure for 2014.”

Garba said that the NECO was devising more ways to reduce malpractice in the examinations in order to counter the various illegal strategies adopted by candidates.

He said that malpractice was on the increase, adding that a comparative study showed an increase between 2014 and 2015 in most subjects.

“A comparative analysis of malpractice cases by subject revealed that while 635 cases were recorded in English Language in 2014, 1,075 cases were recorded in 2015.

“Also, in Mathematics, 634 cases of malpractice were recorded in 2014 while 1,799 cases were recorded in 2015.

“In Economics, 570 cases of malpractice were recorded in 2014, while 880 were recorded in 2015. In Government, 363 cases were recorded in 2014 while 564 were recorded in 2015,” he said.