Six Students have been said to have scored 01 in this year’s National Common Entrance Examination (NCEE) conducted by the National Examinations Council (NECO) for students seeking admission into Federal Government Colleges, commonly known as Unity Schools.

Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, David Adejo who made the disclosure while releasing results for the 2023 NCEE on Wednesday in Abuja, noted that seventy six (76) pupils had the highest score of 203.

According to him, this year’s NCEE which was conducted on Saturday 3rd June, 2023, was written in Nigeria, Benin Republic, and Togo.

He said: “A total of seventy-two thousand, eight hundred and sixty five (72,865) pupils registered compared to 71,738 for 2022 with Lagos State having the highest number of 18,644 and Taraba with the lowest of 102.

“With 38,801 female registrants against 34,064 males, we are making progress with bridging the gender parity; Sixty nine thousand, eight hundred and twenty-nine (69,829) pupils sat for the examination;

“Three thousand and thirty-six (3,036) pupils were absent; Seventy-six (76) pupils had the highest score of 203; The lowest score was 01 mark and this was scored by six (6) pupils.”

Adejo, who noted that the hitch-free examination was a proof that NECO was improving in the delivery of its examinations, maintained that the admission criteria for selection of qualified candidates into Federal Unity Colleges remain 60 Merit, 30% Equality of State, and 10% Exigency.

While admitting that Unity Colleges were grappling with the challenges of infrastructural development, feeding, and teacher quality, he gave assurances that the “Federal government was doing its best to ensure better conditions for effective teaching and learning in our schools.”