The increasing rate of examination malpractice in secondary schools in Nigeria is troubling and calls for a deliberate and strategic effort from all stakeholders in the education sector. The WAEC May/ June examination results statistics showed that 6.75%, 8.61% and 7.41% of the total students that took the examination were engaged in various forms of examination malpractice from 2013 to 2015. This statistics is an under representation as many students engaged in this act are not caught. A 2015 WAEC report stated that Nigeria had the highest number of exam irregularities cases amongst the five member countries taking the WAEC examination. This is pitiable!
The consequence of this ignoble act to our country’s reputation is very dire. It has resulted in loss of credibility and confidence in our certificates and students. It also leads to degrading intellectual integrity, rubbishing the standard and quality of education as well as affecting national growth and productivity. The factors affecting exam malpractice can be broadly categorized as mental/psychological factors (induced by parents and students determined to succeed at all cost), environmental/social factors (such as poor educational infrastructure), intelligence/intellectual related factors (intellectual quotient different among students, not accounted for in teaching); from which other factors emanates. This administration of change must tackle this problem headlong.
The Examination Malpractice Act 1999 explains examination malpractice as any act of omission or commission by a person who in anticipation of, before, during or after any examination, fraudulently secures any unfair advantage for himself or any other person in such a manner that contravenes the rules and regulations to the extent of undermining the validity, reliability, authenticity of the examination and ultimately the integrity of the certificate issued. This act stipulates a minimum punishment of fifty thousand naira (N50, 000.00) and a maximum of five years imprisonment, without option of fine for violators of this act. Some of the punishable offences are impersonation, cheating at examination, stealing of question papers, obstruction of supervision, and many other subtle method students deploy to cheat in examination. The enforcement of this act will go a long way to curb this practice. This act should be further reviewed and stiffer punishment given to all violators emanating from the examination bodies.
There is correlation between the quality of teaching and the student’s performance. All stakeholders, especially school owners and administrators must give priority to proper training and re –training for teachers. The Ministry of Education should supervise and ensure that all teachers teaching in the country undergo this exercise at least twice a year. The remuneration of teachers is also a contributing factor to student’s performance. All government employed teachers’ pay should be reviewed to acceptable standard. A template should be provided that stipulates the minimum wages of teachers in private schools based on the school’s annual income. This action will make our teachers more motivated, boost morale, strengthen teacher’s career development and help reduce the teacher – student ratio as those passionate about teaching will be lured into the field. The recent news that teachers in Kaduna state can now rise to Grade 17 while in the classroom, and also enjoy all the benefits of that grade is cheering. This is simply a practical application of this point and should be replicated by other state governments across the country.
Parents must teach good morals to their children, refrain from all actions that affect their academic performance, key of which is their fixation to their wards’ career choice. Many parents often tell their wards their story of success, how they rose from a humble background to their current status. Yet, they now use their resources to buy invigilators, question papers and so on, in the name of desiring the best for their children. They must imbibe in their wards the virtues of hardwork, discipline, integrity and perseverance. I will digress to another topic in the next paragraph: the social intervention programme.
The proposed social welfare scheme of the current administration is laudable. Of interest to me is the free education for all science and technology students in our higher institutions. This idea is troubling because these category of student selected constitutes roughly between30 – 45% of students’ population in our Federal universities, for example. How will the government compensate the institutions affected; as a result of the loss in revenue made from this category of students? I would rather suggest that the fund proposed for this project should be used to support innovative and society impacting undergraduate and postgraduate projects. I recall that my immediate brother had to truncate his project as the project was going to cost about three hundred and fifty thousand naira (N350, 000.00) if implemented fully. This idea will tackle the challenge of research funding faced by all in our higher institutions. It will also meet the mandate given to the Ministry of Science and Technology, to promote home grown technological innovations.
The government should give special recognition and awards to schools with no record of exam malpractice over a given period, say five (5) years. Likewise, suspensions and fines, should be placed on schools that have abysmal record of exam malpractice. Also, special centres should be put on check regularly, and be closed; as they have been generally known to be promoters of exam malpractice; we see their advertisement all around us with the key word ‘Special Centre’. Where necessary, their license should be revoked or suspended as the situation may be. These actions will go a long way to stem the tide of exam malpractice in our schools. It is also important that the examination body should improve their process to ensure security of examination personnel and all materials.
Exam malpractice is synonymous to corruption, which has become a part of our national life. As a nation, we must return to the true practices our fathers once stood for. Our society must value, recognize and promote honesty, integrity, dignity of labour and frown seriously at every non ethical practices. Finally, tackling examination malpractice will go a long way to revamp our fast eroding educational system.
Adegoke Ire-Oluwa
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