Examination malpractices still endemic in schools —FG

THE Federal Government has bemoaned the rising cases of examination malpractices in educational institutions in Nigeria despite concerted efforts to tackle the menace.

Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, speaking in Abuja on the efforts of the Federal Ministry of Education and its agencies in the last few years to improve on the quality of education in Nigeria, noted that examination malpractices were still endemic in the nation’s educational system.

He said the Federal Government was particularly worried about the development.

He, however, noted that  the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and West African Examination Council (WAEC), were already advanced and applying digital technology to their processes.

“Examination malpractices are still endemic in our educational system. May I use this opportunity to direct the examination bodies to tighten the noose on perpetrators of examination malpractice, be they parents, students, their proxies or agents.

“I charge the chief examiners to work closely with law enforcement agencies to track down and prosecute those who perpetuate this evil,” he said.

The registrar of the National Examination Council (NECO), Professor Ibrahim Dantani Wushishi, while announcing the release of the result of the November/December 2022 Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) recently disclosed that a total of 11,419 candidates were booked for various forms of malpractice as against 4,454 in 2021, which showed a sharp rise in the number of malpractice cases.

He had vowed to prosecute candidates who engaged in examination malpractice in all examinations conducted by the council.

Wushishi, who lamented the lack of special tribunals to try examination offenders, however, said that NECO would blaze the trail by ensuring that offenders are prosecuted for.

Adamu said that in basic and secondary education, the government had invested heavily in the construction, renovation and rehabilitation of classrooms, hostels, laboratories, security and other infrastructural facilities.

He stated further that the national examination bodies, namely: Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), National Examination Council (NECO), West African Examination Council (WAEC), National Business and Technical Education Board (NABTEB), had done creditably well, especially in the operations of the various examinations they conduct.

According to the minister, one of the greatest achievements recorded by the current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari in the education sector was the development and launch of the e-learning website for all levels of the educational system.

He therefore directed all regulatory agencies in the sector to ensure that all educational Institutions under their supervision interface with the ICT department of the federal ministry to develop and deploy relevant content on the website.

(TNT)