Gloria Irabor
Examination malpractice has been attributed to the activities of extra study, coaching or special tutorial centres that are involved in after-school-hour preparation of students for national secondary schools examination and tertiary entrance examinations. These centres, which by extension also avail themselves as examination centres have been found in the illicit business of hosting examination in a dishonest manner where anybody is able to earn good grades.
While it is so fast to push the blame of examination malpractices on the special centres, a tour of conventional schools during the national examination gives a vivid picture of the dismal contribution of private schools to the country’s education system.
The privately owned schools seem to be very attractive on the outward system of organisation, students’ appearance and physical structures, but the internal method of administration is a torn in the flesh of the country’s education system.
Having acquired the accolade of citadel of academic excellence, which has led to so much attention shift and negligence of public schools, the privately owned schools in the bid to compete among themselves for survival in business, resort to examination malpractice, as instrument of success in examination and churning out results, which are considered as good grades and performances for attracting customers to their schools.
READ ALSO: ‘Royal fathers can help curb suicide’
From giraffing to use of cheat notes, use of technical devices, such as calculators and mobile telephones, general discussion and issuing of answers through bribing of invigilators, up to impersonation and buying of results, examination malpractice has grown over the years into a vital instrument of passing examination. It has also become a norm that schools, students and parents have become comfortable with and are ready to go to any length to achieve.
Commentators on the issue are of the view that it is necessary to put up a thorough check on the activities of private schools.
The Etsu of Kwali, who is and educationist and traditional ruler, Dr. Shaban Audu, posited that the problem is due to the prevalent celebration of mediocrity where anybody seeks to achieve anything by whatever means available to do it and gets societal acceptance or it.
He said: “Nowadays people dwell on average and celebrate mediocre behaviour, performances and achievement instead of striving to raise the standard into what it is supposed to be.”
He said when able bodied and intelligent young people are not given societal concern about how to tap their potentials into usable tools, they would resolve to inculcating whatever means of achievement they see around them.
“Whatever is done around children is happening around them and it will be unreasonable not to expect them to take hold of wrong values. Even when they are guided by juvenile delinquency, if they dwell in a sanitised system they will also get rid of any negative behaviour inherent in them or inculcated from peer groups.”
“Moreso, in a civilised and organised capitalist societies, the coexistence of private owned and government-owned organisations are meant to complement the survival, growth and development of the society but where the reverse is the case, it becomes a shaky system of operation where private organisations are given goverment approval to be destructive to the survival of government-owned organisations.”
Educationists and students are of the view that present day students are learning under difficult terrain, curriculum overload, unhealthy competition and reign of awkward survival of the fittest. It is also opined that the same people to address the situation are formidable perpetrators of the problem. While attempting to address the problem, the affected authorities seem to be speaking from both sides of the mouth as the
Invigilators, issuers of sold results and other connivers are neither from the sky nor under the earth but bonafide officials of West Africa Examination Council (WAEC), Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and the other examinations and schools’ regulatory organisations.
According to the immediate past president Reading Association of Nigeria, Dean, faculty of humanity, Veritas University, Abuja, Dr. Gabriel Egbe, whether examination malpractice is an offshoot of a decayed society, juvenile delinquency, unseriousness of students or profit maximisation aimof private organisations, the education system of a country should not be a sector to be compromised for anything if not the supposed growing members of the country would be put in an automatic pedestrian of a weak and unproductive future generation because examination malpractices entrench unseriousness in the subconciousness of growing children thereby informing and establishing poor attitude to learning.
He stated that the Nigeria University Commission (NUC) and other schools’ regulatory authorities should establish academic programme in reading so that students should be able to learn under a system of reading towards critical thinking instead of the current prevailing methods of reading to pass examinations.
READ ALSO: Don tasks electorate to shun voter apathy
The Director, Veterinary Medicine and first recipient of University of Abuja’s Academic Leadership Award, Prof Godwin
Egwu, said that there is the need to learn from the after effects of private primary and secondary schools in the establishment and handling of higher institutions.
He called on government to curtail the establishment of private universities stressing that it is detrimental to the survival and Effectiveness of government universities.
He said: “although it is good to be considerate of the number of students seeking admission to higher institutions the increasing accreditation of private universities is leading to poor maintenance of public universities, culminating into massive infrastructural decay of classroom, lecture theatres, studios, laboratories, poor remuneration of lecturers, poor research funding and equipment.”
He said there is the need to subject the private universities to critical evaluation and maintenance of standard of teaching, learning and research to save the university system from degenerating to dignified secondary schools.