The National Examinations Council (NECO) has postponed its national common entrance examination (NCEE) earlier scheduled for May 29 to hold on June 5, due to its low registration figures.
This was, however, contained in a statement issued on Wednesday morning by the examination body and was signed on its behalf by Azeez Sani, the Head of Information and Public Relations Division.
Mr Sani announced the new date, saying the decision was approved by the Federal Ministry of Education.
According to the spokesman, the figures of applicants recorded so far are lower than expected. NECO, however, hopes that the one-week extension will provide opportunities for more candidates to apply.
The statement reads: “The Examination which was initially scheduled for Saturday 29th May 2021, was rescheduled to give states with low registration of candidates the opportunity to register their candidates for the examination.”
It was added that the registration of candidates would continue until the new examination date.
Newsmen gathered that the figure currently stands at about 50,000, though the examination body did not give the current figure of applicants.
This is low compared to 70,580 candidates that registered for the examination in 2020, though more than 16,713 candidates could not sit the examination due to the nationwide protests against police brutality ravaging the nation at the time.
The examination, which usually holds between May and June, was postponed to October last year due to the covid-19 pandemic.
