In summary, it is a known fact that lecturers are being “blocked” either in cash or in kind for high grades. This is as a result of lack of responsibility, dedication and devotion to duty. Some lecturers intentionally delay release of results to allot time for students to come and “settle” them.
- Strikes/Closure of Institutions: Frequent strike actions and indiscriminate closure of institutions aid examination malpractice. When institutions are closed, semester and course work are condensed and students becomes panicky and start to explore “the best means” to pass their examination.
- Influence of Foreign Culture: The school is expected to teach the culture of the larger society to its members of which the students are a part. It is also expected to prepare the students to have good character as to relate positively with society; and effectively give students cognitive orientation for development of themselves and the society. Looking at the goals that schools are expected to achieve, one then wonders how examination malpractice in our institutions of learning has polluted the culture the school is school is supposed to uphold vis-à-vis the culture the students are supposed to preserve. The general urge to obtain certificate that one cannot defend has become the order of the day.
- Society's expectation/orientation: It is the general notion of the entire populace in Nigeria that once you have gone to school, you must graduate with a good certificate. Anything short of that presents you as a failure or drop out, your honour and prestige are at stake. In this respect, certificate is valuded as a means to an end. Thus, all means, whether straight or crooked, are employed to achieve this objective. Evidence has shown the extent to which students have gone by concealing answers in nylon and hiding them under their shoes, mathematical sets and socks. Students in our institutions of learning are expected to participate in and interact with the society to which they belong; therefore, the orientation is such that the certificate is seen as a prerequisite to acquire wealth and “belong”. It is equally very sad to note that in many examinations, some teachers who are supposed to uphold the society's norms and the ethics of their profession collude with parents, students and supervisors of various examination bodies or their agencies to perpetrate examination fraud.
- Socio-Economic Status of Parents: Research findings by Ezewu and Pai Obanya (1982) indicate that academic aspiration of the school child is positively related to the socio-economic status of his parents. This is so because children always imitate their parents and many of them would wish to be like their parents and so aspire to be as highly educated or even better than their parents. Some parents want their children to take up their profession at all cost. Consequently, we see a situation where some parents go to the extent of buying examination papers for their wards and also lavishing invigilators and supervisors with gifts. In some instances, students go the extra mile of hiring fellow students in higher institutions to write examinations for them. Examples of these abound in both national and professional examinations.
- Admission Requirements: In any institution of learning, there are specific admission policies requirements. For instance, from secondary school to university level, prospective applicants are expected to possess some minimum qualification(s) before being considered for admission. In an attempt to satisfy these requirements, students know that they must possess the relevant subjects for the course of study. Therefore, some of them feel that something must be done to avoid failure in their examination so as to guarantee the achievement of their career goals. The final consequence of this is that many of them resort to cheating during the prescribed examination(s) so as to fulfill their academic ambition especially in key subjects like Mathematics and English Language.
- Employment Requirements: Qualifications are the major parameters to be used for employment or to fill vacancies in enterprises in the labour market. Therefore, getting the certificate is the most important goal to any prospective applicant. Once the connection is there in addition to obtaining the certificate, the job is secured. The effect of this is that securing a good job in Nigeria depends on a good certificate, hence students who are in pursuit of such good jobs but are weak academically resort to all sorts of means including cheating in examination.
- General Economic Ailment/level of income: In a nation like ours where there is a high inflationary trend due to the already battered economy, people seize every available opportunity to make both ends meet. People believe that without money, they cannot make it. The officials of examination bodies are no exception. For instance, some of them use their position to make money by selling life examination question papers e.g. leakage of English, Mathematics, Geography etc. of WAEC 2005.
