Examination Malpractices

From time immemorial, Examination Malpractices have been the order of the day in our institutions from the primary to the secondary and worst of all, the tertiary institutions.

When the day of Reckoning comes, students are found with all forms of "Cheat Mechanisms" such as chips, phones, tattoos, etc. What could be responsible for these very unbecoming acts? Could it be Students' lack of Confidence, Fear of failure or Laziness? These are the questions that have been running through my mind since I put my pen to paper.

Many students don't see "talking in the examination hall" as an illegal act anymore. Some even go as far as making phone calls to get answers from other sources or worse still, surf the internet with their phones to search for answers while writing the exam.

Some of our teachers/lecturers make matters worse by helping students change their sitting positions in the examination hall to suit their evil perpetration.


Well, if you ask me, I would say it originates from our homes where parents no longer deem it fit to encourage their children to read, some even go as far as registering them in special centers at exorbitant fees just to write an examination they could have passed by themselves if they engaged their mental faculties appropriately.

I once had a neighbour who was a secondary school teacher. He usually brought his students exam scripts home for marking and we sometimes found statements like "Please help me sir/ma, God bless you" written boldly on the front page of an empty script! some students copy so much that they even write the source's name and Exam number, making matters worse for themselves as no result awaits them this way.

Examination Malpractices have eaten deep into our society such that students who do not get involved in them are tagged "uncivilized" by their uncultured colleagues and some so-called mentors.

Just the other day, a lecturer said and I quote "If you cannot help your friend in the examination hall, what kind of christian are you?" Did that leave your mouth agape? Wait till you hear this, I know of a man (who is also a lecturer) who sends "runs" allowance to his sons who are in higher institutions. This reminds me of what a friend said one day-"after Examination, you have Runs-amination".

I strongly believe that the laws that guide the writing of an examination should not be restricted to the confines of the examination hall. There's need to make both students and lecturers/teachers know that anything they do behind closed doors whether before, during or after an examination is Examination Malpractice.

Many girls have sold their bodies cheaply to their lecturers for good grades and many guys have spent fortunes to make up for their laziness or lack of confidence. This makes me wonder if these lecturers are hungry or if they just lack moral fibre....

Now tell me, How will a student that can do anything to pass an Exam today not be willing to kill or get involved in all sorts of illegal acts to win an election or have his way tomorrow?!

Whatever the cause, the solution starts from making people see the implications of these deplorable acts beyond the measures meted out by the institutions. Some of the implications are- it has a way of affecting your morale, making you have low self esteem even when you know what to do and how to go about it, you become so dependent that you cannot even trust yourself to make some basic decisions in life.

 What leads many to carry on with these acts is that they think the consequences are short-lived but it is the major cause of incompetent and half-baked graduates that we have in the country today.

My lecturer once made a joke of a medical student who was helped through school (illegally) by one of his lecturers. Nemesis struck one day when the said lecturer had an accident and was taken to the student's hospital but because he was not well groomed in the profession, he worsened his (the lecturer's) case and the lecturer eventually died (that was on a lighter mood anyways).

The day a mad man realises that he is mad is the day he starts regaining sanity. The day our students, teachers/lecturers start realizing the long-term effects of Examination Malpractices is the day we start having some sense of discipline within and outside Examination halls.

To this effect, we all must be involved in this campaign against Examination Malpractices. Parents should encourage their children to read until they understand what they have been taught at school, teachers/lecturers should imbibe an "open-door policy" such that students would be free to walk up to them whether in their offices or in the classrooms to ask questions on things they are yet to understand.

Finally, more libraries should be built to encourage and facilitate a conducive reading environment while already existing ones should be equipped with more books and other materials that can make studying enjoyable.