NECO Computer Based Exam: We Are Not Ready Yet – Registrar
NECO not ready for Computer Based Examination yet – Despite the global preference for computer-based test (CBT), the Registrar of the National Examinations Council (NECO), Prof Promise Okpala, has said the examination is not ready to use the system for its examinations.
He even ruled out the possibility of using CBT in the nearest future.
Okpala spoke yesterday in Minna, the Niger State capital, when a CBT laboratory was donated to the examination body by an Abuja-based information and communication (ICT) company.
The NECO chief said the council would stick to its current system of conducting examinations, including the use of laboratory, multiple choice questions, long essays and orals.
According to him, the use of multiple choice questions is just one of the four processes and it is the only one available for computer-based testing in NECO examinations.
Okpala said: “Most of our examinations are in papers one to four. The use of multiple choice questions is just one-quarter of the examination procedures. NECO examinations are not conducted in one day. We try to balance up. We will not dwell on multiple choice questions alone.
“In a subject like Mathematics, you cannot just mark the answers. How the candidate arrives at the answers is what matters. Even the alternative to practical is not practical. If you want to get a comprehensive assessment on some subjects, you will need to do practicals.
“Malpractice is becoming endemic in this generation. So, the marking requires deliberate observation. There are lots of processes to assess the student, which will not be possible in CBT.” (Source: The Nation)
