Experts in the education sector and some Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), have said the high rate of examination malpractices in Nigerian schools could be reduced by 70 per cent, if adequate resources were made available and monitored for proper utilization, and teachers were supervised to ensure professional conduct.
Speaking at a stakeholders’ engagement organised by the Policy innovation Centre in collaboration with the FCT Secondary Education Board to address the pressing issue of examination malpractice in secondary schools, the experts noted that the government, parents, schools as well as students, all have a part to play in the worsening state of examination malpractice.
Programmes Officer Accountability Lab Nigeria, Shiiwua Mnengi who noted that the government was not doing enough in terms of funding of the education sector to ensure availability and deployment of necessary resources to schools, warned that examination malpractice was a monster gradually eating up the country.
According to him, examination malpractice was a fundamental issue that was not only affecting students and the Nigeria of today, but it was also affecting the future of the Nigerian society at large.
He said: “I can tell you that the government is not doing enough for two reasons; It’s not doing enough in terms of the resources that are deployed to the schools, it is not doing enough in terms of monitoring how these resources are utilized and I think this is where the major gap lies.
“If the resources are adequately provided, their utilization is monitored and other resources including the human resource, which are the teachers are supervised to ensure that they do the needful, we may have reduced examination malpractice by 70 or more percent.”
Mnengi, a fellow with Behaviour Insight Network Transparency and Accountability (BINTA), called for a collaborative effort by the government, education administrators and parents, to protect the future of the Nigerian society
“Government from its ministries, the regulators, examination bodies, the teachers, the students and the parents are owed duty of examination malpractice and so on the part of government, it will be my recommendation that it should improve not just its funding of education, but also make sure that the funds made available to the schools are utilized in terms of providing all the learning materials and necessary things that the student need for their better performance.
“For the parents, it is high time we begin to look at not just the results and grades the students are coming up with, but emphasis should be on the knowledge they are able to demonstrate.
“There is need for the teachers to inculcate knowledge, because that is what they are paid to do. If these students are impacted properly, they will not begin to look out for help in the examination situation.
“So it is an all encompassing situation where all hands needs to be on deck to deal with this monster of examination malpractice, which is not just affecting the students, it is affecting the society. Is affecting our today, and it’s also going to affect the future, or the tomorrow of our society.”
Deputy Director Exams, National Examination Council of Nigeria (NECO) Toyin Adeoye, traced the worsening state of examination malpractice to the proliferation and high demands on private schools occasioned by the fall in the quality of education in public schools
According to her, “30 years ago, there was no private secondary but gradually our government schools went down when it comes to standard, and the private people hijacked the rich people; private schools started coming up. It was at that time that examination malpractice actually skyrocketed.
“After investing money, most private schools want profit so all they are after is get the job done to get more more students for their schools.
“Anyhow the result is gotten doesn’t matter, as long as there’s an evidence that they are doing well in that school so that more students can come in.
“Government schools are not well funded and that is why teachers are not doing their best. Because they are not properly paid, they are looking for other means and as a result, students are not well taught.
“Let’s go back to the drawing board, let us put our school back on standard, government should put in more money in public schools increase the salary of staff, make staff more comfortable because most of the examination supervisors we see collaborating with schools to carry out malpractice are looking for an extra set of income.
“If they are paid enough salaries that cater for their daily needs, I don’t think they will want to do something that may actually jeopardize their own career, because any supervisor that is caught in the art of malpractice will have his or appointment terminated.”