Students involved in examination malpractice during the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) should be barred from sitting for any external examinations by the West African Examination Council (WAEC), National Examination Council (NECO) and the National Board for Technical Education (NABTEB) for three years, the Federal Government has directed.
Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, said that any school/computer-based test (CBT) centre involved in examination malpractice and/or acting as a miracle centre should be barred.
The minister gave the directive following the menace of ‘miracle centres’.
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) said over 3,000 candidates were identified as either accomplices or beneficiaries of examination fraud this year.
The directive reads: “If any school/CBT centre is derecognised by any examination body, other sister examination bodies should follow suit and derecognise the same school/CBT centre for the same number of years to run concurrently. This will send a very strong signal to operators of these miracle centres.
“Student(s) involved in examination malpractice should be barred from sitting for any external examinations in Nigeria, such as those conducted by WAEC, NECO, NABTEB, etc, for three years using the instrumentality of NIN. Such a stringent measure will serve as a deterrent to other students and parents.”
“This directive is also in accordance with Section 16(2) of the Examination Malpractices Act, which states: ‘An examination body may, in the exercise of its powers under this section, circulate the name of an offending candidates, supervisors, invigilator, official, school, or examination centre to other examination bodies, which may impose similar punishment.’
Also, WAEC threatened to cancel the results of candidates found to have posted or received live questions/answers on the internet via social media in the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination for School Candidates (WASSCE), which began last month.
The examination body said the matter may also be reported to the Police for investigation and prosecution of all those involved.
In a statement yesterday, WAEC said some people designed certain activities to perpetrate examination malpractice during the examination.
It sought collaboration to ensure that the fraudulent activities of unscrupulous elements are frustrated to avoid the erosion of the efforts of diligent candidates who have prepared tirelessly for the examination.
WAEC reiterated its stance against malpractice, stressing that it had deployed technological applications to identify those who patronise rogue websites and use their materials during the examination.
The examination body said it had retained the use of the Candidates Identity Verification, Attendance, Malpractice, and Post-Examination Management System (CIVAMPEMS) to curb impersonation, report acts of examination malpractice that take place during the conduct of the examination for WAEC’s post-examination processes, among others.
“Examination malpractice is the bane of quality education, and it undermines national development. It is a cancer in the education sector which requires a multidimensional approach for total annihilation.
“In this vein, the active cooperation between WAEC and its stakeholders is invaluable in the light of the foregoing,” the statement added.
