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Tag: Exam Malpractices

  • How private, public schools operate exam magic centres in Nigeria

    How private, public schools operate exam magic centres in Nigeria

    Investigation by Exam Ethics Marshals International (EEMI) has revealed that 67 per cent of private and public secondary schools function as ‘exam magic centres,’ where exam malpractices thrive.

    Ike Onyechere, the founding chairman of EEMI, disclosed these findings at a news conference on Tuesday in Abuja, focusing on ‘Combating the Dangers of Illegal Levies in Schools: The Role of Parents.’

    The conference aims to raise awareness among parents about the prevalence of illegal levies in schools and to mobilise support for enforcing the government’s ban on such practices.

    Onyechere explained that many ‘magic centres’ lack the necessary infrastructure and resources to operate as legitimate schools or exam centres but manage to secure accreditation.

    “These centres tend to have small class sizes in earlier years JS1 to SS2 but large populations in exit-year classes SS3, where they generate fake continuous assessment scores.”

    He pointed out that these centres were often chaotic during exams, with students, supervisors, and invigilators colluding to cheat.

    “Parents are charged exorbitant fees, sometimes in the hundreds of thousands, for the illicit services provided by these centres, which are shared among members of the syndicates running them.”

    Onyechere called on parents to stop paying such illegal fees, emphasising that they were contributing to the destruction of their children’s future.

    He urged all stakeholders, including those facilitating or collecting illegal levies, to help restore the integrity of the education system by supporting the enforcement of the ban.

    He stressed that curbing examination malpractices was crucial for solving broader societal issues.

  • Exam malpractices: WAEC blacklists 165 schools in Kwara, sanctions State Government

    …Gov. Abdulrazaq issues stern warnings to school heads

    West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has blacklisted no fewer than 165 schools in Kwara state for alleged involvement malpractices in 2019 WAEC.

    Besides, the examination body also penalized the state government financially for the action of the schools, it was gathered.

    The examinations were held between 8th April and 31st May, 2019. The development — the worst in the history of the state — affected 122 public secondary schools and 43 private schools, each fined N250,000, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has said.

    Accordingly, Mallam AbdulRazaq has threatened heavy sanctions against any school heads or officials caught aiding and abetting examination malpractices.

    “This administration is sad to note that WAEC has derecognised 165 schools in Kwara because of widespread cases of cheating in the 2019 senior secondary certificate examination in which some top education officials and parents were implicated. This is very unfortunate and this administration will not hesitate to sanction any school heads or officials that ever engage in such conduct in the future,” Rafiu Ajakaye, chief press secretary to the Governor, said in a statement on Thursday.

    “The administration also urges parents to desist from encouraging cheating in the examination. We call on Kwarans to expose this cancer. As a result of such incidents of aiding and abetting of examination malpractices, this administration will now have to pay N30.5m of scarce public resources to get the necessary approval for the affected public schools to host WAEC examinations in the future. This is avoidable. Examination malpractice constitutes some of the worst hindrance to a bright future because it negates the time tested principles of hard work, diligence, and thirst for knowledge and excellence.”

    The statement said such unhealthy trend and other shortcomings in the sector explain why the government is organising an education summit in the first quarter of 2020 to discuss all the issues affecting the sector and come up with practicable roadmap and reform options.

  • Alleged exam malpractices: Police re-arraign Adeleke, four others

    The police on Tuesday re-arraigned the Peoples Democratic Party’s candidate in the September 22, 2018 governorship election in Osun State, Senator Ademola Adeleke, and four others on examination malpractices charges.

    The five defendants were initially arraigned before Justice I. E Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja on October 31, but an amendment to the charges thereafter necessitated the re-arraignment which took place before the same judge on Tuesday.

    With the amendment, the police increased the number of charges from four to seven which the four defendants again pleaded not guilty to on Tuesday.

    Others with whom Adeleke was re-arraigned were, Sikiru Adeleke; the principal of Ojo-Aro Community Grammar School, Alhaji Aregbesola Muftau; the registrar of the school, Gbadamosi Ojo; and a teacher in the school, Dare Samuel Olutope.

    The prosecution accused the five defendants of committing the offence of examination malpractices by fraudulently, through impersonation, registering Adeleke and another Sikiru Adeleke, as students of Ojo-Aro Community Grammar School, in Ojo-Aro in Osun State, for the National Examination Council’s June/July 2017 Senior School Certificate Examination in February 2017.

    In the additional counts, the police accused the defendants of fraudulently registering Ademola and Sikiru Adeleke for the examination “and pursuant to the abetment awarded them seven credits, one pass and five credits respectively, and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 10(a) and punishable under section 3 of the Examination Malpractices Act Cap E15 LFN 2004.”

    The Adelekes were also accused of impersonating “as students of Ojo-Aro Community Grammar School when you fraudulently registered as internal students of the school in the June/July, 2017 NECO, and having registered, conspired with unknown persons now at large to write the examination for them.”

    According to the prosecuting counsel, Mr. Simon Lough, the offences were said to be contrary to and punishable under the various provisions of the Examination Malpractices Act Cap E15 LFN 2004.

    After the defendants took fresh pleas on Tuesday the judge re-affirmed the bail he earlier granted them.

    Considering Adeleke’s status as a serving senator, the judge granted bail to him in self-recognition but with a directive that he must enter into a bond to assure the court that he would always be present in court for his trial.

    The judge also directed him to deposit his passport with the registrar of the court and must not travel out of the country without the permission of the court.

    Others were granted bail in the sum of N2m each with one surety each who must be a “responsible” citizen and owner of landed property in Abuja.

    They are also to submit their passports to the court.

    But following an application by Adeleke’s lawyer, Dr. Alex Izinyon (SAN), on Tuesday, the judge directed that the senator’s passport be released to him to enable him to travel abroad to seek medical check-up.

    Justice Ekwo fixed February 12 for trial.

     

  • Osun Poll: Stop crying foul, nobody forced you to commit exam malpractices, APC tells Adeleke

    Osun Poll: Stop crying foul, nobody forced you to commit exam malpractices, APC tells Adeleke

    The All Progressives Congress has asked the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Osun State, Senator Ademola Adeleke, to face his trial over alleged examination malpractices and leave the party out of his woes.
    The APC said Adeleke should blame himself for allegedly getting involved in examination fraud, stating that the party did not ask him to commit examination malpractices. which he is being accused of by the police.
    The Director of Publicity, Research, and Strategy of the APC in Osun State, Mr. Kunle Oyatomi, said this in a statement made available to our correspondent in Osogbo on Wednesday in reaction to the allegation levelled against the party by the PDP candidate.
    The statement read, “Senator Ademola Adeleke should face his problem squarely and stop looking for props and excuses to justify his inadequacies. APC did not ask him to commit the examination fraud.
    “That is a matter with the police. And we are not police prosecutors. If he has been taken to court by the police, how is that the business with the APC?
    He was the one who went to the tribunal and he has a responsibility to diligently prosecute his case at the tribunal. We cannot stop the tribunal from working, not even Ademola himself can stop the tribunal.
    “So, it is immature, pedestrian and patently wrong for Ademola to accuse the APC and police of conspiring to deprive him of the ability to prosecute his own case. Perhaps the PDP candidate is too much engrossed in entertainment to find the time to understand how the tribunal and the court processes work. He should try and update himself, so as to know what to do, rather than embarrassing himself and his party.”
    Adeleke had accused the APC and the police of colluding to prevent him from prosecuting his election petition against the APC by bringing up trump-up charges against him.
     
     
     
     

  • Kwara Government shuts three schools over exam malpractices

    The Kwara State Government on Friday shut three schools in the state for involving in examination malpractice.

    This was disclosed by the State’s Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, Alhaji Musa Yeketi, in a chat with newsmen in Ilorin.

    Yeketi listed their names as Topklass Secondary School, Kilanko, Ilorin, Banwo International College, Ajase-Ipo and AJVIC College, Amoyo near Ilorin.

    He explained that the schools were shut because they registered external candidates for the West African Examination without duly informing the ministry.

    According to the commissioner, the Banwo International College registered over 200 external candidates, which far outweighed its facility and the number of students in the school.

    “The management of the college never consulted our ministry for approval.

    “Also, two other schools in Amoyo and Kilanko, registered external candidates without due consultation,’’ the commissioner said.

    He alleged that at one of the schools, the ministry discovered that while some candidates were already writing the essay part of a particular subject, others were still on the objectives.

    “When we raised a question on this, the management could not give a tenable explanation,’’ he said.

    Yeketi warned that the present administration would not give room for examination malpractice or non-compliance with statutory requirement in the education sector.

    He recalled that some schools were closed about two months ago for failure to register or due to the substandard environment.

    “Those schools still remained shut.’’

    He, however, said the schools would be reopened when they fully complied with the directives of the ministry.