Students need 95% class attendance to write WAEC, NECO

Abakaliki - The Ebonyi Government says secondary school students in the state must have 95 per cent class attendance to qualify to write the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO) examinations.  

The Commissioner for Education, Mr Ndubuisi Chibueze-Agbo told in Abakaliki on Wednesday that the policy was introduced to discourage truancy and indolence among the candidates.

According to him, many of the candidates who register for the important certificate examinations abandoned classes, only to appear on the days they have papers.

He said that such unwholesome attitude could undermine the ongoing reform in the education sub sector and the government would not tolerate it.

Chibueze-Agbo said that class attendance was part of the continuous assessment and wondered why candidates would prefer to abscond from school after duly registering for the exams.

He said that school principals been directed to send class attendance registers of Senior Secondary School 3 students across the state to the Ministry of Education on a weekly basis for regular inspection.

The commissioner said that state government was determined to sustain the present status of Ebonyi as an examination malpractice free state.

“Those candidates who deliberately abscond from classes are those who have perfected plans to cheat in the exams.

“We are very strict on checking class attendance of our WAEC and NECO candidates and those who do not show 95 per cent class attendance will not be allowed to write the examinations.

“We will do anything within the ambit of the law to curb examination malpractice in the state,’’ he said.

Chibueze-Agbo said that WAEC and NECO were highly rated bodies whose examinations should be taken seriously by candidates.

The commissioner said that success in examinations required hard work and did not come by miracles.

“Success in examination depends on how well you prepare yourself; it does not come by miracle.

“Only those who are committed to their studies and attend classes can achieve success in their examination,’’ Chibueze-Agbo said. (NAN)