The Endemic of Examination Malpractice in Nigerian Universities.

The entertainment media company Intsablog9ja company recently shared photos and video of a UNIBEN student who claimed “Aggressive Examination malpractice brought her this far” moments after writing her final paper.

For proper context, the said lady who just completed her final  year exams, going for her signing out wore a shirt with the inscription “Aggressive malpractice brought me this far”

It is no longer news that examination malpractice has eaten deep into the education system of Nigeria, but boasting publicly of been involved in examination malpractice is another level of low on the education system and the entire country at large.

The consequences of such action on the integrity of the learning institution (UNIBEN) and the entire country at large can not be imagined, I will kindly suggest that the administration of the University of Benin do something to arrest the situation before it goes completely out of hand.

Why is examination malpractice rampant in various Nigerian universities?

#1. Failure of our education system

One of the damages caused by the failure of the Nigerian educational system is the high rate of examination malpractice in our universities, apart from the fact that the majority of the lecturers in the university do not teach the students the way they ought to be taught, Many of the students do not see a reason to put effort into their studies because studies do not necessarily determine how far they go in life.

Many of  the lecturers demand sex for grades from female students while they receive bribes from the male students in order to increase their scores or give them a better mark these several rots going on in our educational system are the factors contributing to  the rate of examination malpractice in the country

#2. Personal Factor

In as much as the University should carry the majority of the blame when it comes to examination malpractice, many of the students have their own share of the blame. majority of students get into the university through dubious ways, we all know someone who did makeup to the cut-off mark but got admission into the school studying the course of his or her choice.

Getting into the university, many of these students will not be able to survive the system because they were not trained or even prepared for it so many results back to examination malpractice, in order not to get rusticated out of the system.

#3. Undue emphasis on Certificate

 The emphasis placed on school certification in Nigeria is becoming alarming. You will agree with me that many Nigerian students no longer care about learning in school any longer. What matters most to them is to make the best grades in all their subjects/courses.

It is important to remind students that making good grades is very important, teachers and Lecturers must ensure to tell them that making good grades is not the reason why they came to school. The goal is to learn in school and secondly, to make good grades.

#4. Environmental factor

When discussing any vices that affect our society, environmental factors should always be the number cause, because where a child grew up or where he lives will sometimes determine how he acts and how he thinks. In the environment where many students were brought up examination, malpractice is a norm. Many secondary and primary institutions in Nigeria encourage examination malpractice for business reasons.

We hear of situations where the school administration encourages the students to participate in examination malpractice while writing SSCE in order to get more students the following year, situations whereby the examiners and Invigilators demand money in order to allow cheating and examination mal practices. These environmental factors are responsible for the high rate of  Examination Malpractice in our university today.

#5. Overpopulation in schools

Categorically this point still falls under the failure of our educational system, but it is problem that needs to be discussed before things go out of hand, majority of learning institutions are overpopulated and deplitated, speaking basically the student cannot learn anything in this kind of environment.

A situation whereby a student spends a full semester in an overpopulated class where he can hardly hear the lecturers what result would be expected of such students at the end of the semester.