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)