Consequences of Examination Malpractice
The increasing rate of examination malpractice in educational institutions in Nigeria has become a serious national embarrassment which educationists, all stakeholders in the education sector and our leaders can only to ignore at great peril. It should be noted that one of the functions of examinations is to determine students grades and class of result. However, frequent reports of examination malpractice have not helped the credibility of the certificates awarded by Nigerian institution and examination bodies. In the words of Eze and Ezeani (1991), if examination malpractice continues at the present rate, a time will come when certificates will be mere indication of the educational level the bearers have attempted and not attended. Any employer of labour who needs their service will then subject them to an indepth examination in appropriate areas. How prophetic they were! In fact, we have got to the stage that educational institutions and employers of labour have resorted to conducting Post-JAMB/UME as the case may be to determine those candidates/applicants to be admitted or employed in organisations. This has brought shame to Nigeria internally as our certificates are looked at with suspicion and disdain; our products cannot prove their mettle when competing with their counterparts elsewhere.
Two, students/candidates involved in examination malpractice are subject to expulsion, rustication for about a year or two or have their results seized or cancelled. Teachers/lecturers, Heads/staff of schools or examination bodies could be jailed, dismissed or have their appointment terminated. For instance, Prof. Ike, former registrar of WAEC was removed from office because of exam “expo” in the 70's. Of recent, nineteen (19) students and fifty (50) other students were expelled and rusticated by the Academic Board of Auchi Polytechnic, Auchi (Auchi Polytechnic News Bulletin, Vol 26, 8th October, 2007, No 17). The polytechnic also expelled thirty-four (34) students who forged National Diploma statements of results to gain admission into the Higher National Diploma programme (Auchi polytechnic News Bulletin, Vol 32, 6th June 2007, No 13). In Punch Newspaper of Tuesday, April 26, 2005, it was stated that Bayero University Kano expelled 160 students for being involved in examination malpractices; Lagos State University, Ojo, sent away about 3,000; OAU dismissed over 500 and Rivers State College of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt, expelled 69 students. In the editorial column of Daily Champion, Thursday, September 2, 2004, it was noted that yearly on the average, about 700,000 results of candidates are either cancelled or seized by public examination bodies, over 300 principals, teachers, supervisors, invigilators and other examiners are being blacklisted, while several schools are de-recognised as exam centre.
Likewise, the 2007 Annual Exam Ethics stated that the total amount of money lost by parents and government to results cancellation by exam bodies in Nigeria on account of exam malpractice has risen to 107 billion naira in the last five years. The figure stood at 21 billion naira for the year 2006. Also, the total number of post-primary exit examinations result cancelled by public examination bodies (WAEC; NECO, JAMB and NABTEB) stood at 410,000 in 2006. (Daily Sun, Tuesday, October 23, 2007).
Again examination malpractice plants the seeds of fraud in the fertile minds of students in primary and post-primary institutions According to Soleye (1991), examination malpractice exhibits moral decadence in our society. In the same vein, Danga (1991) says examination malpractice is the product of a society that nurtures cheats and mediocre and turns them into celebrities … it is a reflection of the moral decadence of our society. In sum, examination malpractice is a manifestation of the fact that Nigeria is one of the most corrupt countries in the world.
According to Ikoroh (2004), the story is told of a parent whose child in primary school was going for an examination; the parent copied what she presumed would be the answers (perhaps having got the papers ahead of time) to the questions and tucked it into her child's pocket. When the innocent child was caught while trying to use the piece of paper, he confessed that his mother had put the paper there for him to use at the appropriate time. Many questions arise as to what that child would have leant in terms of how examinations can be passed. The damage to the psyche of such children can be imagined. This is an evidence of moral decadence and general indiscipline, as people now believe that only through fraudulent practices can one make academic achievements. Moreover, students involved in this act, particularly cult members, often resort to intimidation and violence when invigilators/supervisors prevent them from cheating during examination. According to Olugbile (2005), the skull of a lecturer in the department of Business Administration, Lagos State polytechnic, Isolo campus, Mr Hammed Ojodu, was torn open by cultist. He was accused of being insistent in his anti-examination malpractices campaign. Another lecturer at the University of Calabar, had his eye plucked out for preventing cultists from cheating during examinations.
