Examination Malpractice
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study Teachers at different stages use examination to assess and evaluate the academic achievement of students in the school system. In all teaching and learning situations therefore, it is essential to find out from time to time how much the students are achieving from what they are being taught. In order to do this effectively, teachers, examining bodies like the West African Examination Council (WAEC), National Examination Council (NECO), National Teachers Institute (NTI) etc and classroom teachers assess the students by administering weekly, termly, end of year test and final examinations. Bearing in mind the role that education is suppose to play in nation building, a nation stands the risk of being underdeveloped in terms of accumulation of illiteracy, disease and poverty when its youths reject the honour of getting sound education and seems to opt for fraudulent activities and deceptive ways in making- ends meet as epitomized by examination malpractices thereby negating the philosophy of sound education. The products of such a system can only grow up to be cynics, insensible, dishonesty, ignorant, narrow-minded, myopic, unintelligent, deceptive, close-minded, one sided beings who would be indifferent to the issues of life and powerless to act, create problems and never succeed in life (Ogunsanya, 2004). Examination malpractice has been described as a “demon with a thousand faces” (AIigbo, 1996, p.1). It is a scourge that has defied all measures adopted to eradicate it from our educational system. It has continued to rear its ugly head in most examinations conducted in Nigeria from the primary schools to the universities. It manifests in so many ways either before, during or after the actual conduct of examinations. It is a term that denotes all forms of cheating in examinations. Examination malpractice is any activity of a student or group of students whose purpose is to give any of them higher grades than they
1.1 Background to the Study Teachers at different stages use examination to assess and evaluate the academic achievement of students in the school system. In all teaching and learning situations therefore, it is essential to find out from time to time how much the students are achieving from what they are being taught. In order to do this effectively, teachers, examining bodies like the West African Examination Council (WAEC), National Examination Council (NECO), National Teachers Institute (NTI) etc and classroom teachers assess the students by administering weekly, termly, end of year test and final examinations. Bearing in mind the role that education is suppose to play in nation building, a nation stands the risk of being underdeveloped in terms of accumulation of illiteracy, disease and poverty when its youths reject the honour of getting sound education and seems to opt for fraudulent activities and deceptive ways in making- ends meet as epitomized by examination malpractices thereby negating the philosophy of sound education. The products of such a system can only grow up to be cynics, insensible, dishonesty, ignorant, narrow-minded, myopic, unintelligent, deceptive, close-minded, one sided beings who would be indifferent to the issues of life and powerless to act, create problems and never succeed in life (Ogunsanya, 2004). Examination malpractice has been described as a “demon with a thousand faces” (AIigbo, 1996, p.1). It is a scourge that has defied all measures adopted to eradicate it from our educational system. It has continued to rear its ugly head in most examinations conducted in Nigeria from the primary schools to the universities. It manifests in so many ways either before, during or after the actual conduct of examinations. It is a term that denotes all forms of cheating in examinations. Examination malpractice is any activity of a student or group of students whose purpose is to give any of them higher grades than they