The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has sanctioned 13 Secondary Schools in Gombe State over cases of examination malpractice.

The director of examinations in the Gombe State Ministry of Education, Ali Yaya, disclosed this during a meeting with principals of secondary schools in the state.

He said the development was a major setback in the ministry's effort to improve the education sector in the state.

According to the him, examination malpractice is currently the major challenge facing senior secondary schools in the state, and the menace must be tackled before it escalates to other schools.

"From 2018 to 2020, seven of our public senior secondary schools were found to be involved in exam malpractice which led to their de-recognition by the WAEC.

"Similarly in 2022, the ministry received a fresh set of six schools that committed the same offence and they were also de-recognised with a penalty of N500,000 per school payable to WAEC," he said.

According to the director, the menace of examinations malpractice impacted negatively on the overall students' performance in 2022 Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations (SSCE) final result in 2022.

"The percentage of 2022 result was 55.6 per cent as against 79.5 per cent for 2021 and this is in connection with the examination malpractice recorded in six of our schools," he said.

He warned schools to avoid malpractice of any forms, adding that any school found wanting again would be seriously punished.