Do you know that over one million dollars is lost yearly to Examination malpractice in Nigerian schools? This issue of Examination malpractice has become pervasive and entrenched in the Nigerian educational system, posing a severe threat to the integrity and quality of Education. It is an unethical practice that undermines the purpose of examinations, erodes trust in the system, and hampers the overall development of students. An Examination is seen as the instrument used for the assessment of individual knowledge and skills in general and specific areas of study (Adekunle, 2003). Unfortunately, that is not what is experienced at different levels of education, especially with the secondary schools and the just concluded Junior and Senior WAEC and NECO Examinations held in schools and different centers nationwide. The Examinations were marred with various forms of dishonesty, such as cheating, impersonation, leakage of examination questions, and bribery.

Examination Malpractice in Secondary Schools in Nigeria, Who Is To Blame?

Suzan an intelligent student and very dedicated to her studies let herself get carried away by undue pressures. She felt the syllabus was too vast to cover, so she resorted to cheating during the examinations to impress her parents. On the Further Maths day, she discreetly tucked a tiny piece of paper with formulas into her pocket and wrote more procedures on her lap in a way that you won't even suspect a thing. The external invigilator Mr. Stephen noticed the suspicious movements and glances from the students and decided to observe them from afar silently. Unfortunately, he immediately noticed as Suzan was scribbling down answers from her lap and cheat sheet. He walked up to her while she was in the act and asked her to hand over her answer sheet and the tiny cheat sheet she was copying from. Trembling with fear, shame, and tears in her eyes Suzan complied. That marked the end of her examinations for that year and she was immediately disqualified from the examinations because she was engaged in Examination Malpractice. This leads to the question on everyone's mind. When a child engages in Examination malpractice, who is to blame? Are we going to blame her alone for cheating? Or are we going to lay the blame on the parents or the school?

&nbsp;This and many more questions will be answered by Janice Adedeji, a renowned Educational consultant who is passionate about Teaching, A&nbsp; Public Speaker, Brand Storyteller, and Content writer. We were opportune to interview this remarkable personality at Aura and have her share her brilliant insights on Examination malpractice.

As much as getting the dictionary explanation of words is very important, to be sure you are not talking out of point. Personally Examination malpractice is going against the norms, rules, and instructions based on what the examination is all about. How do you go against the rules and regulations? By aiding yourself with things that you ought to have known, read, and been used to because you have been taught before the examinations, and then instead of reading and having a good knowledge of what you are supposed to write about, you decide to take the material(s) inside the examination hall.&nbsp;

What are the causes of Examination malpractice in Nigerian Schools?

For example, as much as we see examination malpractice being rampant in most Nigerian Schools If a parent intentionally instills the habit of reading in a child from the beginning, That child will find it very easy to read and prepare for examinations. Now the reverse is the case, instead of the parent intentionally making the child understand that you have to gain knowledge above everything, You will see a child of 1 year, the parent will put an iPhone in the child's hands and begin to press social media, press things on the phone that are not relevant to the child's development into the child's hands. The child is used to being automatically fed, so when the child grows up to begin through an independent stage of making him or herself relevant, the child hopes to seek artificial means which makes the child resort to easy ways of doing things and making life easy for him or herself thereby, turning into a nuisance. Do you see why teaching a toddler how to read is important? Before the child goes to sleep, you see a parent sitting by the bedside reading a story until the child falls asleep. How do you expect that child to grow up? The child will grow up knowing that he or she has to read and seek knowledge. But when you abandon the child to be on his or her own, based on the foundation that you have laid —To show the child you can watch television, you can press the mobile phone, and use the laptop, the child will grow up to know that everything is artificial and you have to use other means to make themselves develop instead of the original manual ways of making themselves relevant in the society. It still boils down to a faulty foundation. If the foundation is faulty, there's nothing we can do. Correct the foundation and begin to build until we get to a point where the child is independent enough to stand on their own and be able to fix the process that they have been exposed to.

As parents and Teachers, we have to be intentional about creating an atmosphere that would build the foundation solidly so that children can realize that Examination malpractice is a no-go area.

What are the effects of Examination Malpractice on a child?

The child loses confidence in himself or herself.

It makes the child to be comfortable, and being comfortable is a dangerous attitude. When you are comfortable with mediocrity, failure, using your time anyhow.&nbsp; It makes you a problem in society. You see a young child wake up in the morning without doing anything in the house, go and sit down with a cobbler on the street discussing irrelevant issues and disturbing the work of the cobbler because you do not even know how to use your time effectively.&nbsp; Examination malpractice is why many children do not value reading because they know there's an easy way out. They won't watch the news because they are not used to it and their parents have made them understand that watching cartoons, movies, and listening to irrelevant music replaces news that is relevant to you contributing your quota in making the society a better place. If the Teachers and the parents want to intentionally want to make a difference, they should adopt attitudes that have to do with self-development, issues that have to do with economic and financial development. This can be achieved by being interested in learning through reading.

Nothing replaces reading and this reading has been inculcated in us from our foundation. We intentionally learn, and relearn until this menace called malpractice is dealt with.

What factors influence Examination Malpractice

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<b>Greed</b>

Greed is the reason why people want to fast-track the process because they feel like money is more important than the future ahead of them. You think that collecting the money will go a long way forgetting that that 5 minutes you used in compromising can destroy a generation. People are too eager to resort to other means rather than do it the right way. If you are true to who you are, whatever it is you are collecting now will be too small compared to what you will be getting in the future, and you won't have any cause to regret because your work and worth will speak for you. Diligence is like an aroma, wherever you are, it will show.&nbsp; When you cancel greed from your itinerary, it allows you to see further than where you are, therefore keeping you abreast with different ideas that will keep you financially strong.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<b>A Poor Mindset</b>

A poor mindset is not about being poor it's about a mindset of not being capable, not believing in yourself and your capabilities to deliver. When you have a poor mindset, there is nothing you can do except to re-attune your mind to realize that ideas when birthed and nurtured turns to money. When you have a poor mindset, your ideas don't mean a thing to you because you feel the process is too long. You nurse thoughts like your mates are doing better than you, if you have to stay through with the process you will be old. All these are poor mindsets playing out? When our mindset is renewed and empowered, we will help the situation and improve on aspects of personal development that help people to get rid of examination malpractices. You don't even think of it because you are confident about your capabilities, you trust yourself, knowing that the resources have been made available, and you will do your best and read to the extent that you can deliver on your own.

What Possible Solutions should be put in place by the Government to Curb Examination Malpractice in Nigeria?

All hands must be on deck to find a lasting solution to examination malpractice in Nigeria. Parents must instill the habit of reading in their children and wards from an early age. The teachers should do their part with what is available to help instill the right knowledge in the child. The government should as a matter of urgency help provide facilities in the schools, reading desks and chairs, books for the libraries, and equipment for the laboratories. The welfare of Teachers should be highly considered. Teachers are poorly paid and sometimes owed for months. With this type of motivation, I believe teachers will do better in helping to fight examination malpractice instead of aiding it.

Examination Malpractice has caused a serious decline in the Nigerian educational System. Let's hear from a renowned Educational consultant, Janice Adedeji as she shares her honest views on the ills of Examination Malpractice and the way forward.

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