TITUS ELEWEKE l TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 07, 2017
IKEJA, Lagos , Nigeria – Worried by the rapidly increasing number of examination malpractices in the sub region of West Africa, the five members’ countries that make up the West African Examination Council WAEC stormed Nigeria for a two day international summit on examination malpractices.
The two days conference designed to eradicate or reduce the tide of the ravaging menace of malpractices was recently held in Lagos with the themed “International Summit on Examination Practices’. The five member countries of WAEC are Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Declaring open the summit, Nigeria’s Minister for Education, Adamu Adamu who was represented by a director of basic education in the Ministry of Education, Alhaji Mohammed Karaji expressed worry over increasing number of examination malpractice in the sub region, describing the development as worrisome.
The minister said that some parents and website operators carry out these nefarious activities, thereby rendering the education sector irrelevant. According to him, it is the duty of member countries to stamp out corruption and examination malpractices to give credibility to all examinations.
He said that the Nigeria government was worried by the increasing high level of examination malpractices and assured that any person caught would be prosecuted accordingly. The minster also accused staff of the WAEC and other examination bodies of aiding examination’s malpractice, saying that without the involvement of the staff of various examination bodies there was no way the papers could be leaked to the public.
In his welcome address, the Registrar of WAEC Dr. Uyi Uwadiae said the perpetrators of examination malpractices seem to be committing the act with impunities. According to him, an exam malpractice is a torn on the credibility of examinations in the sub region and called on all stakeholders to rise to the challenges of arresting the tide before it destroy the whole system. He disclosed that all attempts made by the body to deter the practices have not yielded any meaningful results.
The WAEC boss said that due to exam malpractices the council is spending so much outside its annual budgets, and he wants to use the medium to appeal to the minds of perpetrators to stop this ill called examination malpractice. Uwadiae reiterated that the mission statement of WAEC was to provide credible examination to all her member countries, saying that the kinds of threats they get from perpetrators of exam malpractices are overwhelming.
He had earlier during the press conference to announce the activities lined up for the summit described exam malpractice perpetrators as terrorists. He said that now exam malpractice perpetrators come into halls with guns and dangerous weapons while some drug the invigilators and supervisors.
Speaking during the first day session Chairman Senate Committee on basic education Senator Aliyu Wammako represented by Senator Obinna Ogba said examination malpractices was a serious issues that everybody must take serious. He said the examinations malpractices was fast eroding the credibility of examinations in the country and sub region and he urged all stakeholders to rise up to the challenges and make sure that it is eradicated.
He said that at the senate level adequate laws would be enacted to make ensure the menace is reduced to the barest minimum. Also speaking during the day, Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Basic Education Hon. Zakari Mohammed said the crazy for university education was the major cause of examination malpractices, saying that everybody cannot be graduate to add meaningful value to the society.
He also blamed the increasing number of examination malpractices on what he called miracles centres where results are manufactured for students, calling on every stakeholder to do everything humanly possible to make sure the evil is destroyed . Mohammed also warmed parents to desist from the act encouraging their wards into participating in the devilish miracles centres that manufacture unmerited results for their children.
He called for stiffer penalty for the examination malpractice perpetrators, stating that “if we do not kill the menace it will ruin the country”.
Chairman of the WAEC council, Dr. Mrs. Evelyn Kandkai said that examinations malpractices represent the worst corruption in the education and the world. According to her, in examination malpractices both the Security agencies ,school, parents and school are suspect and examination malpractices has remain the major distraction in conducting credible examinations in the sub region.
“Some parents have continued to assist their children to cheat in examinations. Examination malpractices in the sub region are frightening and it is an ill wind that blows no good to any person. We want to eradicate the body off examination fraud. We want everybody to contribute to fight exam malpractices’ before it kills our education sector “she said.
The immediate chairman of the council, Prof. Pius Obayan who was the guest speaker, in a lecture titled Examination Malpractices: The Contemporary Realities and Antidote said that examination malpractices are global phenomena and it is not peculiar to Nigeria or to West Africa sub region.
According to him, over the years Nigeria has produced what he called private educationists’ or education entrepreneurs whose interests are purely on money making and not building or developing human capital or the sector. He traced the major cause of the examinations malpractices to the death of value system in the society, stating that people place much value on treasurs and no longer on hard work as well as credibility of individuals.
“Schools, communities are not interested in the credibility of our results. Schools today are for profit making and no more for social services. We values certificate more than the character of the beholders of these certificates, we live in system where certificate is branded education. Buildings are mistaken for school, people look at the building before they send their children to those schools. Those who are admitted to read education are not ready for the course; they are there because they were not admitted into their choice courses. The society does not have value on teachers because they do not have much money. Some homes are not role models .Homes are the first training ground for children. Examination success is mistaken for education success in our system today “he said.
He posited that for us to curb the trend of examinations malpractice there is need to reverse the negative values about our value system, stressing that for the elimination of the menace, we must kill the root cause ‘emphasis on Materials’. Delivering a paper titled: Examination Malpractices: A Threat To National Development, The Dean, School Of Education and Leadership University of Ghana, Prof Jonathan Fletcher said anything that affect the validity of examination must be taken serious because education is key to national development.
According to him, there are relations between education and national development, and he urged actors in the sector to be fair to students by not giving them unmerited marks.
Also delivering a paper tilled Technology and Examination Malpractices by Prof Redwood Sawyer of Sierra Leone, he said that the major cause of examination malpractices was the penchant for success at all cost, a trend he said has become ubiquitous in all facets of human endeavour.
According to him, there are many modern gargets that can aid the examination malpractices in the world today, disclosing that there are eye glasses ,calculators ,rings and wrist watches that can scan question papers and send out while examination are going without being detected by the invigilators.
He said some of these gargets are so sophisticated that hardly can anyone believe they can be used for such high level examination malpractices because they are normal thing people put on every day. “These software can transmit scan information out side when programmed during examination and you cannot decode them unless you have the right glasses to do so” he said.
He also suggested some way of checking examination malpractice among include scanning all signal round the premises. Sawyer also suggested that the teachers training and retraining be taken serious, especially in the area of information and communication technology so that they can fit into the modern world of cheating technology .
He also called for integrity among the education stakeholders in education sector.Rev S.N.N Ollennu , Ghanaian head of WAEC national office said that if the menace of examination malpractices was not destroy it will destroy the development of the sub region. According to him, the rampart cases of exam malpractices was a lee way for producing mediocres in the sub region and people must raise up against the ill trend.
He called for thoroughness in the supervision by invigilator during examination by planting CCTV cameras in all halls of examinations and collaborating with judiciaries and law enforcement agents.The leader of Gambia delegates Mohammed Jallow said that examinations malpractices was just a news thing in their country and it was still at its lowest level.
He disclosed that the first examination malpractice in the country was recorded in the year 1999/ 2000 and was perpetrated by foreign teachers. Dr. Romeller Harton, the leader of Liberia delegates said that they have no case of examination leakages despite the horrible state of conveying examination materials to centres but admitted that the there were a lot of collusion among schools, and perpetrators.
