EXAMINATION MALPRACTICE AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
THE STUDY’S BACKGROUND
According to Webster’s comprehensive dictionary, examination malpractice, a problematic phenomenon in our educational system, is the improper or illegal practice, immoral conduct. Furthermore, examination malpractice is an illegal method by which a student passes an examination. This could take the form of bringing notebooks to examination halls, cheating during exams, copying from friends, or paying someone to help write the exam. Another method is to know what questions will be asked ahead of time.
However, examination malpractice can be traced back to colonial times, when the Nigerian Chronicle newspaper of January 9, 1992 widely reported how senior Cambridge local examination questions were leaked. Although examinations are not the only yardstick for assessing knowledge, they are the most widely used and practical method of assessing education and determining competence.
However, due to the candidates’ fear of failure, lack of confidence, inadequate preparations, laziness, and, most of the time, inability to apply themselves to the tasks which they have come to do both in secondary and in higher institutions in the country, the incidence of examination malpractices has increased in recent times in this country. This bad habit has infiltrated deeply into our own society.
Students have mastered various forms of examination cheating. Bringing foreign materials into examination halls is one of the methods used in these malpractices. These are intended to help students pass the exam rather than rely on their own abilities. These materials include textbooks, prepared materials written on pylons, and various things with names like hide and seek microchips, magic text, and so on.
Other unsavory activities inside and outside the examination halls include stealing people’s work, converting or misappropriating other candidates’ scripts, and substituting script at the end of examination papers only to complain later that their script is missing. There is also collusion between two or more candidates who usually agree ahead of time to sit and help themselves.
Impersonation is also very common, in which a student who writes is paid or coerced to go and sit for the real candidate in order to pass the examination on their behalf. The continued blooming of vice in the nation’s educational system has cost a crippling darkness on the integrity of certificates Nigerians carry, and examination fraud is being touted as the root cause of all other societal ills in Nigeria, such as 419 and other financial crimes.
Although the government has given the impression over the years that it lacks the will to implement the exam malpractice law No. 33 of 1999, which mandates imprisonment for violators. Our country’s problem is not limited to 419; it also extends to financial crimes and bank fraud. If we want to address these issues at their root, we must address examination malpractice.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Cheating during examinations has assumed the guise of a well-organized business, with practitioners reaping millions of Naira each year. The current situation is one of the reasons why the quality and standard of education in Nigeria has plummeted, some even saying beyond redemption.
Those who do not measure up academically may consider cheating during examinations in order to obtain their certificate by any means. These tendencies result in exam malpractice. The problem of leakage of examination questions papers, which sometimes comes through teachers, invigilators, and principals in order to obtain information about examinations, is one that almost every student in Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area of Edo State faces nowadays.
The issue is caused by poverty or insufficient remuneration. Students amass large sums of money and give it to examination officers in order for examination papers to be leaked. Another dimension that examination malpractice has taken is mass cheating.
Nowadays, with the use of electronically assisted materials, calculators, palm tops (mini computers) are brought in unnoticed, organizers, small sized compact discs, mobile phones, though not allowed in examination halls, are smuggled in because messages can be texted to them in the hall.
The goal of this project is to investigate the factors that promote examination malpractice and to propose potential methods and means of eliminating the practices in schools. The standard of education will continue to decline until we are able to stop examination malpractice.
Furthermore, if examination malpractice is not properly addressed, society is on its way to hell. Examination malpractice results in the perpetual condemnation of one’s conscience, and the bearer of the fake certificate is constantly persecuted for carrying something false.
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The goal of this research Project is to:
1. To investigate the major factors that promote examination malpractice.
2. To investigate the individuals involved in examination malpractice.
3. Determine the impact of examination malpractice on students, teachers, and society as a whole.
4. To investigate the measurement of information recall or recognition, as well as higher order outcomes defined in terms of more complex cognitive processes (e.g. understanding, synthesis, application).
5. To propose potential solutions to the problem of examination malpractices.
6. To learn about the steps the government is taking to combat examination malpractice.
THE STUDY’S IMPORTANCE
This study will assist policymakers in shifting their emphasis from paper qualifications to job experience. It will also assist Nigerian curriculum planners in safeguarding examination integrity. It will provide information to the Ikpoba Okha local government area, the school of sciences, specifically the College of Education, Ekiadolor Benin City, and the Edo State Ministry of Information on the antics students engage in while committing examination malpractice.
It will also assist examination bodies such as the West African Examination Council (WAEC), the National Examination Council (NECO), and the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) in becoming aware of examination malpractices and how to eliminate them.
THE STUDY’S OBJECTIVE
This research is primarily concerned with the causes of examination malpractice in Edo State’s Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area. Western Boys High School, Army Day Secondary School, Queen Ede College, and Excel Secondary School are included. It includes one hundred students from each of the schools mentioned above. There are two separate schools and two mixed schools.
TERMS DEFINITION
Factor: Anything that causes or influences something, such as environmental or economic factors. It can also refer to the amount by which something grows or shrinks.
Failure is defined as a lack of success in doing or achieving something.
Fail: To fail in something, especially an examination.
A problem is something that is difficult to deal with or comprehend.
Promote: to aid in the advancement of something.
Examination: A formal assessment of someone’s knowledge or ability in a specific subject, typically through written questions or practical exercises.
Examine: To examine something or someone carefully and in detail in order to learn something about it or from it/them, to closely inspect something or someone. To put someone’s knowledge or ability to the test, especially by asking questions or assigning practical tasks.
Malpractice: Negligent, illegal, or unacceptable behavior on the part of someone in a professional or official position.
Investigate: To find and examine all of the facts about something, such as a crime or an accident, in order to discover the truth. To attempt to discover facts, information, etc., through study or research, for example.
Invigilate: To be present during an examination to ensure that it is conducted properly and that no one cheats.
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EXAMINATION MALPRACTICE AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS