Exam Malpractices in Educational Institutions in Nigeria: Implication For The Counselor

Implications for Counseling/The Counselor

Reasons for counseling services in Nigeria institutions are obvious (NPE: FRN 2004). Some of the issues requiring counseling services in our educational institutions today are: examination malpractice; moral decadence. According to Imogie (2002), the resultant effect of the decline in standard of education is that citizens are no longer getting value for the money spent in education as there is very little teaching and very little or no learning going on in our nations' institutions. He also re-affirmed the fact that no nation can rise above the quality of its educated citizenry. For meaningful development to take place, counseling must be given priority in all services.

Imogie (2002) further stressed that if education must serve the society, it must produce people who carry more than certificates. It must produce people, normal and exceptional ones, with the right types of knowledge, ability and attitude to put them to work for the good of the society.

Guidance and counseling services is one of the important facilitative services in the quest for quality education. This is because guidance and counseling is a programme that seeks to help individuals to constructs shape and adjust to their interest, abilities, personality traits, motivations, vis-à-vis their environments and life situations. These services are made available by professionally qualified and adequately trained professionals called COUNSELLORS. They are well equipped to render assistance to students to make better adjustment in their personal/social, academic and vocational life pursuits.

In the area of the individual student's academic pursuit, the counselor should develop effective communication links and networking to guide students towards achieving optimal behaviours during the conduct of examinations (internally and externally as the case may be). Specifically, this can be achieved, among others, through:

1. Delivering individual and group counseling to students generally on the expected behaviours before, during and after examinations. This helps to desensitize the students by reducing fear, anxiety and tension usually associated with examinations.
2. The counselor should assist students to build upon their self confidence so that they will shun any type of examination malpractice
3. The counselor should organize orientation services/talks for all students (old and new) at the beginning of each semester and a week to the commencement of examination. Students Handbook of Information given to new students should include expected examination behaviour
4. The counselor should lecture students on how to study effectively and prepare for examination, the use of the library, formulating and keeping to a personal reading time-table; and
5. The counselor should be in constant touch with the students, discussing with them to find out their views about examination malpractice and how it can be completely curbed

Recommendations

In furtherance of the above functions of the counselor, the following recommendations are made:

1. Our Educational institutions should stop the practice of indiscriminate admission of students without reference to their past moral life. This is very dangerous. Being in possession of an entering qualification is not enough. The institutions need to conduct interview for new students. As the students' credentials are checked and scrutinized, their behaviour should also be checked and scrutinized. This is because some of these students may have been rusticated or expelled from similar institutions but now they want to gain fresh admission into another institution. Any institution that is unfortunate to have them will definitely regret.
2. Lecturers/teachers should diligently rededicate themselves to their noble profession. This could serve as a potent moral suasion, capable of boosting the confidence of students and dissuading them from engaging in examination malpractice.
3. Students should be helped to cultivate a high reading culture/good study habits instead of contemplating on how to engage in examination malpractice. They should imbibe self-confidence to be achievers in life not depending on others or cheating.
4. Parents should not aid and abet, directly or indirectly, examination malpractice. Rather, they should motivate their children by providing them with the needed school materials, not setting too high standard or ambition for them.
5. To stimulate and facilitate effective learning, institutions should be provided with, at least, minimum teaching/learning facilities. The present high cost of education should be reviewed.
6. There should be massive campaign against examination malpractice. The fight against examination malpractice should be a collective one, involving everybody in the nation if success is to be recorded; and,
7. There has to be the immediate strengthening and enforcement of the Examination Malpractice Act 33 of 1999. This law prescribes penalties ranging from N50,000 to N500,000 and jail terms of three to five years for offenders upon conviction, without option of fine. The truth is that this law has never been put to action as many of those caught have been left unprosecuted.

Conclusion

Examination malpractice, no doubt is an ugly social virus that is speedily creating social, moral and educational epidemic in Nigeria. Hence, this paper has examined the nature, causes, consequences of examination malpractice and the place of counseling services/counselor in eradicating the menace.

The paper has also suggested some practical solutions for controlling or eradicating examination malpractice in our nations' institutions.