EXAMINATION MALPRACTICE IN OUR UNIVERSITIES

Exam malpractice has become an uncontrollable disease affecting our universities. It has affected the education system in very negative way and as a result students enter into university with the impression that exam malpractice is a normal affair. Some of the students believe that certicate can be purchase like item in a market square, it’s really deplorable to find out that these set of students have failed to comprehend the importance of knowledge, wisdom and education. And with this entire complicated situation, the university staffs are not really helping.

Exam malpractice can be define as anything done by stakeholders such as examination administrators, teachers, parents and students that is likely to render the assessment or examination ineffective or useless.

It can also be regarded as any form of fraudulent activity that aims at better result than the candidate’s actual intelligence.

It is also define as non-compliance to the rules and regulations controlling the conduct of an examination.

The need for solving the problem of examination malpractice and related offences led to the promulgation of act 33 of the 1999 to serve as deterrent to those who normally perpetuate this act.

The various form of examination malpractices offences observe are:

·    Cheating at examination

Barr. NANA Arnold congratulating UPIB best
lecturer of the year Mr Azeez OKUKU 

·         Stealing of question papers

·         Impersonating

·         Disorderliness at examination

·         Misconduct at examination

·         Obstruction of supervisor in carrying out his duties

·         Breach of duty during examination

·         Conspiracy to cheat

·         Aiding and abetting examinees to cheat

The act 33 of the 1999 also defines offences such as:

Ø  Leakage: involves content of examination disclosed to candidates prior to time of taking examination, this could involve staff, test developers and test moderators.

Ø  Administration: exam malpractice at the administrative level involves an individual who is not registered as a candidate but takes the place of one that is registered. It also involves students and lecturers taking the test for monetary reward or as favor for a friends and acquaintances

Ø  External assistance: it is the form of malpractice where invigilators dictate answers, write answers, circulate sheet of worked out answers during the exam or act as carriers of unauthorized materials into the exam hall.

Ø  Smuggling of foreign materials: this is the most common form of malpractice, it relates to the bringing of unauthorized materials into the exam hall

Ø  Copying: this is the reproduction of another candidates work with or without their permission, it usually involves only the students but can be facilitated by inadequate spacing between desk and poor supervision

Ø  Substitution of scripts: replacing answer sheets handed out during the exam with the one written outside the exam hall, this involves supervisors, lecturers

Ø  Marking malpractice: this is a deliberate alteration of marks designed to inflate or deflate a candidate’s original mark.

There is a need to elaborate an examination policy that will promote the education system and set a standard that is specially design to maximize success while focusing on leadership development.

Barr. NANA ARNOLD