Katsina celebrates 29,633 students passing NECO exams

The Katsina State administration has announced that around 29,633 pupils completed the 2024 National Examination Council (NECO) tests with five credits or above, including Mathematics and English language.

Hajiya Zainab Musa-Musawa, the state Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, disclosed this to reporters in Katsina on Tuesday.

The commissioner was responding to several media accounts that she claimed painted the state’s performance in the NECO results unfavourably.

According to her, the reports focused solely on percentage success, ignoring other major indices demonstrating favourable progress in the state’s education system.

Hajiya Zainab Musa-Musawa, the state Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education

“While it is true that the state’s performance in the 2024 NECO exams shows room for improvement, the NECO report also highlights several key areas where the state excelled.

“Notably, Katsina State ranked sixth nationally in the number of students who passed the exam with five credits and above, including Mathematics and English.

“This is a staggering achievement, with 29,633 students meeting this critical benchmark—more than in at least 30 states, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja.

“In contrast, some states recorded fewer than 10,000 students who passed with five credits, including Mathematics and English,” according to the commissioner.

She stated that the 29,633 successful candidates from the state were more than enough to meet the state’s quota in universities and other higher institutions for the 2024/2025 academic year.

Musa-Musawa stated that this amount constituted a huge increase from the 25,152 candidates who met the same threshold in 2023, indicating a tremendous growth of nearly 17.8%.

“The media reports also overlooked the commendable performance of male candidates in the 2024 NECO examination and the substantial number of students mobilised and sponsored by the Katsina State Government.

“The administration of Gov. Dikko Radda, a former teacher himself, has been proactive in addressing the challenges facing the education sector, many of which were inherited from previous governments,” she said.

“Upon assuming office, Gov. Radda made history with the single largest teacher recruitment drive in the state, employing 7,325 teachers within just three months of his administration.

“This number includes 5,000 primary school teachers and additional teachers for post-basic schools, significantly reducing the teacher-to-student ratio.

“What is more interesting about the process was that, all of them were employed after sitting and successfully passing a competency test, thereby curtailing nepotism and favoritism.

“Furthermore, the state government, in collaboration with BESDA-AF TESS, has trained 17,470 teachers to enhance their capacity and improve the quality of education,” she said.