Exam Malpractice

Abstract Show/Hide This employment considers the unconnected causes of exam malpractice in the Nigerian preparation system with a panorama to suggest new-made ways of combating the problem. Three research hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. Using the multistage separate sampling technique, 200 students were selected for the study from 20 alternate schools in Akwa Ibom State. An exam Malpractice Questionnaire (EMQUE) was used for data collection. The three research hypotheses were tested statistic every(prenominal)y utilize the Chi squargon statistical technique.The results indicate that poor study habits, famine of educational facilities, and inability of schools to cover prescribed syllabuses are significant remote causes of trial run malpractice in the domain. Based on these findings, methods of tackling the menace are proffered and counsel implications are suggested. Introduction The issue of scrutiny malpractice is a national nip situation. Before the a dvent of western type education, traditional Nigerian education was based mainly on experience and practice.Its mode of instruction was elementary as fellowship was passed on orally and through practical tests. Students then only had to commit to memory, learn by rote, or through an nonation (Ibia, 2006). Because traditional Nigerian education placed little or no emphasis on certification, students had the proper view of education, seeing it as a means to an end not an end in itself. Besides, the Nigerian finale then frowned at dishonesty and would not hesitate to sanction offenders (Agogo, 2006).According to Ejiogu (2001), cosmopolitan moral decadence and the high premium placed on performance and certificates by Nigerians has in recent times spawned scrutiny fraud. The normal overdependence on educational certificates as a measure of ones know guidege and competence has led to a mad rush by ab knocked out(p) people for educational certificates (Sofola, 2004). In a bid to acquire such certificates, many boast resorted to unethical meansforemost among which are examen malpracticesjust to acquire the certificates at all cost.Without doubt, the persistent occurrence of scrutiny malpractice in Nigeria has spawned heinous problems such as 1. Lack of credibility of academic certificates acquired in Nigeria by the international community. 2. Declining standard of education in the country. Onyechere (2004) insist that unless we are able to stop tryout malpractice, the standard of education in Nigeria will continue to fall. 3. The problem of turning out into the connection impracticalif not unbakedgraduates who are virtually good for nothing and functional illiterates. 4.Inability to salutary competitive and challenging jobs which require practical test of proficiency and skills. 5. The brisk correlation between examination malpractice and corruption in public offices. As noted by doubting Thomas Derry of the atomic number 74 African Examinations C ouncil (WAEC) and quoted in the Examinations ethics Project (EEP) survey (2004) report, students who steal their ways to higher offices through examination malpractice would not find it difficult to engage in corrupt practices when they are employed. 6. Finally, examination malpractice has economic implications.According to EEP (2003) report, Nigeria loses more than one billion naira annually to examination malpractice. Thus examination malpractice could equally be seen as an economic crime. Mention-worthy at this juncture is the fact that Nigerians have not been sleeping since the wake of this prankishness in the mid 1970s. It is on recorded history that the first safe case of examination malpractice in independent Nigeria was the leakage in 1977 of the tungsten African Examination Council (WAEC) question paper for the West African initiate Examination (Onyechere, 1996).The outcry by WAEC in the wake of this incidence led to the setting up of a tribunal by the Federal giving medication of Nigeria to investigate the mass leakage and to suggest possible measure to look for future occurrence. The tribunal recommended severe punitive measures. The federal government followed this up by promulgating Degree No. 20 of 1984 and later, Degree No. 33 of 1999 in which severe punishments against perpetrators of examination malpractice were clearly enshrined.Further measures which have been taken in recent times to eradicate examination malpractice take that taken by the Obasanjo Administration which embedded in the National Economic Empowerment and instruction Strategy (NEEDS) policy document a target of 40% diminution in examination malpractice annually the existing legislation on examination malpractice, Degree No. 33 of the 1999 Constitution which is still in potencythough not enforced and the move by the Federal Ministry of study to introduce the study of ethics in the school curricula with a view to forestalling examination malpractice.It is a truism tha t even though more has been done, it is either grossly inadequate or ineffectual at kerb the menace as we day-in-day-out see examination malpractices take newer, dynamic and charitable forms especially with the advances in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) coupled with the normal falling standards of societal norms. It is as well true that examination malpractice would not have attained its present endemic state but for the fact that the study stake holders in education are at the forefront emboldening and abetting the crime.Orhungur (2003) decried the worldwide opinion which tends to indict the students and exonerate the teachers and other examination agents. Quoting a provisionary report by Usman, he maintained that if the staff, that is, all who have to do with examinationsexaminers, typists, custodians, staff of examination bodies, printers, transporters, and security agentsput their house in align, students would not have access to examination materials before examinations. Umar (2003) indicted head masters and principals as the biggest perpetrators of examination malpractice in the country.He asserted that headmasters in connivance with their teachers initiate aboriginal school pupils into examination malpractice during common entrance examinations by giving answers to the students so that they would record high number of passes in their schools. In the case of secondary school principals, Umar (2003) stated emphatically that they are the worst perpetrators of the crime as they, in a bid to have the names of their schools praised and recognized, manipulate and aid the crime.In the same vein, Ike (2004) of the EEP held that principals have gone to the extent of building into the National Examinations Council (NECO) and the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) registration fees, an examination malpractice fee variously referred to as cooperation fees, dread fees, examination welfare fees, and miscellaneous fees with the sole a im of bribing supervisors and invigilators and whoever sent them so that they might cooperate during examinations.Another group of master-minders who have rather taken sum total stage in recent times are operators of private study centres also known as extramural classes. These study centres are current fronts for examination fraud operated by organized syndicate who charge outrageously high fees for examinations. Funnily enough, students are, more often than not, willing to pay because in the end it pays off very well (Thisday, 2004). The last group which is also a strong force behind the perpetration of examination malpractice is the parents. numerous parents would not want their children to repeat any class no calculate their level of performance.Thus, they pressure school authorities to give their children automatic forward motion even when they fail their examinations. Parents are also in the forefront of hiring mercenaries to pen examinations for their wards. They thus collude with principals to issue fake but favourable examination results to their children. Looking beyond the contribution of education stakeholders to examination crimes, other beta causes of examination malpractice revolve around the students and their attitude towards their studies as influenced by the general socio-economic situation in the country.In recent times, students prepareif at all they dolackadaisically for examinations. The reason for this lacklustre attitude as opined by Thomas Derry of WAEC is that the youths have prioritized entertainment and pleasure at the expense of their books (myspacefm. com, 2004). Furthermore, Anger (2004) pointed out that the high fees associated with especially the Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) makes malpractice inescapable as poor students cannot afford to repeat a given examination and would in the first instance do anything to pass it at all cost.A comprehensive submission by Anyiin (1998) identified the fundamental cau ses of examination malpractice to include 1. Lack of necessary facilities for teaching/learning 2. Non-coverage of prescribed syllabuses due to their extensiveness and the general nonchalant attitude of teachers towards teaching. 3. Industrial actions by teachers. 4. Mass promotion of students in internal examinations. 5. The general misconception of good performance by some principals and the society as a means of enhancing the status of societal rating of the principals and their schools. . untimely or lack of proper administration of examinations. 7. Imposition of school subjects on candidates by parents. 8. Poverty and greed on the part of the teachers who constitute the stack of invigilators and examiners. 9. Constant increase in examination fees, among others. Statement of the Problem In the fight against examination malpractice, it appears that no one is exonerated. As exposed in the preceding section, education stakeholders, the students, as well as the national frugality could rightly be apportioned blames for the preponderance of this menace.In sum, these variables tend to operate interdependently such that there is a cumulative influence, with one variable buttressing the others. This could be seen in the fact that the poor economic situation in the country has compelled most poor parents to resort to unethical means in order that their wards may pass their examinations at one sitting. Therefore, this research investigates remote causes of examination malpractice in Nigeria with a view to proffering effective methods for curbing the menace.