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NECO, stakeholders move against exam malpractice

˜   National Assembly: Culprits to be prosecuted


˜   We need to address collapsed societal value, corruption – Stakeholders

 

WORKSHOP

Given the negative impact of examination malpractice on education, societal and national development, critical stakeholders in the nation’s education sector, led by the National Examinations Council (NECO ), have risen to the challenge of tackling the menace headlong

 

No doubt, examination malpractice has over the years posed a threat to the conduct of quality examinations, and specifically the overall growth of the school system and education development.

Given the challenges posed by the menace to the delivery of quality education at all levels, various efforts and initiatives had been put in place by major stakeholders, especially the examination bodies, such as the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), National Examinations Council (NECO) to nip in the bud the hazard in the Nigerian school system.

Despite this, the unabated menace of examination malpractice has continued to instigate more attention among critical stakeholders on how to deepen the efforts and strategies at mitigating the challenge.

Meanwhile, faced with this worrisome development that is persistently diminishing the integrity of our education system, key stakeholders in the country’s education sector for one day last week assembled in Lagos to stretegise and share thoughts on how to chart a new direction in the fight against examination malpractice.

The South-West phase or edition of the one-day National Sensitisation Workshop on Examination Malpractice, which is being organised by the National Examinations Council in partnership with the National Assembly, took place at the Marriot Hotel, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos. The theme of the workshop is “Roles of Education Stakeholders in Tackling Examination Malpractice.”

Key stakeholders at the workshop include members of the National Assembly (Senate and House of Representatives), top government functionaries, members of the academia and representatives of WAEC, NECO officials, the National  Parent Teachers Association of Nigeria (NAPTAN), as well as the Nigeria Union Teachers (NUT), among others.

Tone of workshop

Setting the tone of the workshop, the Registrarof NECO, Prof. IbrahimWushishi, while welcoming guests and participants to the event, said part of the aims is to sensitise education stakeholders on the ills of examination malpractice that has become a cankerworm in the school system; to initiate ways of curbing or tackling the menace of examination malpractice in the nation’s education system, especially at the secondary school level. It is also to encourage relevant stakeholders to join hands together towards bringing the menace to a minimal level because of the negative effects which examination has on the overall growth and development of the country.

Stating that NECO, as an examination body, which has zero tolerance for examination malpractice, he said: “The menace has been in our society for quite some time.

Even though the numerous examination bodies in the country and some stakeholders in the education sector have been doing their best to make sure examination malpractice is curbed, it has continued to remain a challenge. “Thus, we at NECO felt there is the urgent need for a collective action through sensitisation of parents, students, teachers, examiners/supervisors, the security agencies, civil society organisations and the general public, among others, about the danger posed by the menace.

“This is the main purpose the workshop is set to achieve and on the other hand why we see it as very necessary to hold the workshop across the federation; first in the South-West (Lagos); South-South (Akwa Ibom) on December 5; and North  Central and the Federal Capital (FCT) on December 9, respectively.”

The Registrar, who stated that deliberation at the workshop would centre extensively on the various aspects of the ills of examination malpractice, added that the event was initiated to make stakeholders understand that examination malpractice has a lot of negativities as far as societal, education system and national developments are concerned.

According to him, if the nation’s education system is to flourish, examination malpractice must be reduced or eliminated to a very low level. While reiterating that the examination body has zero tolerance for all forms of sharp practices in its examination system, he said this was due to the serious effects the menace has on education delivery.

Wushishi, however, regretted what he described as lack of prosecution of culprits of examination malpractice and implementation of the existing laws examination malpractices as the bane of the fight against the evil practice, saying: “If parents, teachers, students, invigilators or schools are involving in examination malpractice are caught, youwillneverhearof theirprosecution.”

“With this method, I think the fight will not be won,” he pointed out, and advised school owners, students, parents, and other stakeholders to desist from examination malpractice, which is fast destroying the school system. This was even as he said that NECO, as a body, has been sanctioning schools and other culprits of the examination malpractice by delisting schools involved for two years for  which the schools would be stopped from taking NECO examinations.

“When we have convincing evidence against any school, we do not hesitate to sanction and prosecute such schools and their accomplices in accordance with the law,” he added.

Reactions

While declaring open the workshop, the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, who was represented by the Registrar of JAMB, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede described the workshop as relevant and apt, given the negative happenings in our society.

He also described examination malpractice as a major challenge confronting the school system and threatening the entire education sector. The Minister, however, expressed optimism that at the end of the exercise, the workshop should be able to arrive at practical ways of nipping in the bud the menace of examination malpractice.

“The war against examination malpractice should be total because it is dangerous to the survival of the nation’s education system,” the Minister, who also chaired the event, said, even as he expressed regrets that “many of us” are involved directly or indirectly in the propagation of the menace. Piqued by this, he challenged the examination bodies and assessment agencies to adopt a multi-dimensional approach for the eradication of examination malpractice. “They should be proactive enough to pre-empt the perpetration and prevent the menace through this

of workshop. Besides, we should develop quick responses in the fight because examination malpractice has destroyed the country so much,” he said. Also, the Minister urged the examination bodies to be more creative in discerning and adopting strategies and measures to prevent malpractice in the system, saying a situation in which examinations are being weaponising by lecturers to candidates was an unfair assessment, stating that rather examination should be demystified for students.

Towards addressing examination malpractice, he called on examination bodies to adopt ICT in tackling the menace, saying that this had become necessary as Nigeria was underdeveloped in tackling issues of examination malpractices. “Examination malpractice is a major problem affecting the conduct of public examinations in Nigeria and let me say that Nigeria is underdeveloped in tackling issues of malpractices in our exams,” he said.

 

The ministry, he stressed, would continue to promote high standard of education through provision of conducive learning environment, even as he recalled that the ministry once called for an increase in the allowances and remunerations paid to examiners and supervisors, which had been heeded by the examination bodies. “This is to discourage examination malpractice and encourage those who will do examination supervision diligently and conduct proper examinations,” he added.

Outlook and recommendations

However, in his keynote address, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education, Mr Andrew Adejo, urged the National Assembly to enact laws to sanction and take consequent actions on culprits of examination malpractice.

He bemoaned the complexities arising from the loss of core values in the Nigerian societies, which he attributed as a major cause of the menace, lamenting: “Because we have forgotten our value system; it has collapsed and until we fix this, it may take a long time before the system recovers, but we should look at the ways of correcting our value system.”

In view of the critical role of education as an invaluable tool for the socio-economic development of any nation especially if that nation seeks to produce responsible and respectful citizens, he insisted that culprits of examination malpractice should be made to face the law to serve as deterrence. He suggested that no one should be spared as both the low and the mighty should go to jail if found guilty, even as he added that school administrators must ensure adequate coverage of the syllabus for all subjects before the commencement of external examinations.

On the loss of societal value, Adejo reiterated: “There is the need for good parental upbringing. Parents should up-scale their moral and value system and encourage their children to study hard for examinations.”

 

According to him, examination malpractice is fueled by the collapse of the societal value system and the prevalence of moral decadence resulting in overemphasis on paper qualification, recruitment of unqualified and incompetent teachers, poor learning environment, poor study habits of students, inadequate coverage of the syllabus, connivances with and collaboration of agencies involved in the conduct of examination, among others.

To this end, he tasked education stakeholders, including parents, teachers, students, principals, supervisors, examining bodies, media, legislators, and custodians of question papers that they all have a role to play in curbing examination malpractice in the country. “Each of these critical stakeholders should contribute positively in stemming the tide of examination malpractice that has bedevilled us as a country,” Adejo noted.

He listed some of the ills of examination malpractice as it hampers national development to include underdevelopment due to unqualified personnel in the various sectors of the economy; erosion of the credibility and integrity of certificates awarded by our institutions; production of halfbaked graduates being churned out of our ivory towers, leading to watered-down professionals.

Other effects, to him, are production of unskilled and incompetent professionals that fill the labour market and public space; high unemployment rate; low productivity; poor job performances; bribery and corruption; and certificate racketeering of citizens who are morally and mentally bankrupt and ill-equipped. Still on the way forward, Adejo said part of the solution to this seemingly intractable malaise, which is both simple and complex; is that there should be regular and continuous advocacy and sensitisation of the populace on the evil effects of examination malpractice.

He restated the need for the government at all levels to ensure the retraining and re-evaluation of teachers to enhance and assess their competencies and skills, as well as regular advocacy and sensitisation in schools to inculcate high moral values in learners, while examination ethics clubs in schools should be supported by all examining bodies.

On her part, the Deputy Chairman of the Senate Committee on Education, Senator Akon Eyakenyi, who stood in for the Chairman of the Committee, advocated a conducive learning environment, even as she suggested that culprits of examination malpractices must be made to face the law.

Besides, the Senator, who pledged the support of the National Assembly for the fight against examination malpractice, said the legislators would enact laws that would stop the trend. While stating that the National Assembly frowned at examination malpractice, and said that this would soon be tackled holistically, she further noted that to effectively tackle the menace, there is also the need for operators to collaborate with professional associations who wield certain levels of influence on their members.

She added also that the government must hold private school operators to account, while stakeholders must rise to the task of speaking out and taking informed decisions when and where the needs arise, as well as the media community to particularly lend its support to this patriotic fight.

Also, the Chairman of House Committee on Basic Education, Prof. Julius Ihonrbere, who recalled that several workshops had in the past been organised on examination malpractice, regretted that there was no significant change in the trend as students and other perpetrators are busy designing other ways to cheat.

He, however, lamented the dislocation in the examination system and the general decay in the education system, even as he condemned a situation in which parents are deeply involved by paying schools or examination takers for their children and wards to cheat in order to pass examinations at all cost.

While promising that the National Assembly would come up with legislations to deal with the menace, Prof. Ihonrbere described examination malpractice as a comprehensive problem and attributed the menace to lack of quality teachers, poor school infrastructure, poor teachers’ remuneration, lack of functional libraries, among others.”

While pledging the readiness of the Committee to work with NECO in the continued fight against examination malpractice, the lawmaker said that the National Assembly would look for a holistic way in order to comprehensively address and tackle the malaise, which again he traced to the collapse of the societal and school foundation, and corruption in the country.

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