ASHENEWS reports that the Niger state governor, Mohammed Bago has proposed the review of laws establishing the National Examinations Council (NECO).
The Niger state governor stated this on Monday while speaking at a retreat organized by the National Examinations Council (NECO) in collaboration with the National Assembly in Abuja.
Bago said that the proposal became necessary to review the council’s mandate to reflect the current global technological realities.
The governor who described the retreat as timely said that the laws governing NECO are obsolete considering the evolving innovations in technology such as Artificial Intelligence.
The governor therefore urged members of the National Assembly to double their efforts and speed up legislation that would reflect innovation in public examinations.
He commended the management of NECO for organising the retreat, pointing out that the Council has been able to provide stewardship in administering examinations in the country and beyond.
The Governor equally suggested that the retreat should be expanded to all other relevant critical stakeholders in the country for wider input on better ways of addressing innovation and evolving challenges in public examinations.
Also speaking, the Minister of State for Education, Dr Yusuf Tanko stressed the role of proper legislation in enhancing the council’s operations.
The Minister, who was represented by his Permanent Secretary, Mrs Didi Walson-Jack, said that proper legislation would act as a mechanism for safeguarding the integrity of public examinations and protecting students’ rights that will ultimately empower them to excel.
In his address, the Registrar and Chief Executive of NECO, Prof. Dantani Wushishi explained that the retreat was to underscore their collective commitment, to building a more robust, and equitable national assessment system in Nigeria that will foster education excellence.
The NECO registrar who enumerated challenges faced by the Council to include infrastructure, funding and examination malpractice among others, called for a collaborative effort with the National Assembly members to promulgate laws that would incorporate new technology, empower the Council and build a stronger public examination system.
This online platform reports that the retreat convened with the theme “Legislative Functions: the Imperatives of Achieving NECO Mandate and the Challenges of Examination Legislation in Nigeria” had in attendance National Assembly members and stakeholders in NECO among others.
