Corruption has become a celebrated crime in Nigeria. It is a crime that is not only gaining currency but also fast becoming a norm. It has reached the crescendo that almost everyone, irrespective of tribe, faith and region, is becoming acclimatised with it. Nigerians no longer feel ashamed of corrupt practices.
Unfortunately, many people justify their involvement in corrupt practices, citing the prevalent poverty in the country. It has even attained a new dimension where crime enjoys the overwhelming support of society, homes and parents.
According to a report in The Punch dated June 11, 2017, the society that once upheld family values has now embraced corruption, thereby normalising moral decadence, especially among the leaders. Corrupt leaders are deified because we value money more than any other thing.
Corrupt Practices among Teachers
It is should be noted that society itself has successfully created a myriad of systemic challenges with wide-ranging adverse effects.
While explaining corruption, Investopedia maintains that “corruption is dishonest behaviour by those in positions of power.
“Those who abuse their power may be individuals or they may belong to organizations, such as businesses or governments.”
It further explains, “Corruption can entail a variety of actions, including giving or accepting bribes or inappropriate gifts, double-dealing, and defrauding investors.”
Emphasising people in power while explaining and analyzing corruption has created a misconception that only those in power — our leaders — are corrupt.
So, at the mention of the word corruption, we think only about leadership, especially political leaders.
Unfortunately, the Nigerian education sector has also created an avenue for corrupt practices.
The educators, mostly teachers, too engage in corrupt practices such as sexual molestation and examination malpractices among others.
These corrupt practices are well-pronounced among Nigerian teachers. Poor remuneration remains the sole justification for being championed by the corrupt ones in the classroom.
Examination malpractice is a systematic vice that has become a common amoral practice in Nigerian schools. Teachers and even in some cases the owners indulge in the act.
We need to look beyond the rampant corruption in high places. The corruption at that level started at school.
A country with a high spate of examination malpractice loses international credibility. Certificates at treated with suspicion. We need to acknowledge the fact that corrupt leaders are products of examination malpractice at various schools.
There is hardly a school that is isolated from this frightening reality.
According to a report in , BusinessDay between 2018 and 2019, the incidence of examination malpractice during the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) attained a dangerous level- it rose to 77 per cent.
On June 7, 2021, Premium Times an online digital newsroom reported that 27 schools were fined 13.5 million naira for their involvement in examination malpractice while quoting NECO.
ICIR Nigeria in its analysis asserted that over 20,000 students were involved in exam malpractices in 2021.
UniProjects researched to investigate the extent of teachers’ involvement in that moral corruption in a Nigerian state.
The report showed a frightening level of teachers’ involvement in examination malpractice.
Despite the negative effects of this immoral practice, attention is majorly focused on political leaders. We seem to have forgotten that they were taught by teachers. They passed through an academic system.
Another moral corruption that is prevalently common among Nigerian teachers is sexual molestation. This is a corrupt practice that is on the rise in our schools.
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), one in four girls and one in ten boys had experienced sexual violence before the age of 18.
Parents and guardians are emotionally and psychologically disturbed by the sordid tales of sexual molestation against pupils in primary schools and students in secondary schools, with a heavy indictment of teachers and even school owners.
One of such cases was that of the 11-year-old boy molested at Deeper Life High School in Akwa Ibom State.
Also, in 2019, two male teachers in the Federal Capital Territory were were arrested for allegedly molesting visually-impaired students at the school for the Blind, Jabi.
A civil society organisation (CSO) reported in the vanguard Nigeria, September 13, 2022, that 70 per cent of Nigeria’s female students are sexually harassed.
Considering the number of cases cited above, it is of great concern that grave corrupt practices among teachers have yet to be given the required attention.
To truly sanitise society and correct the ills plaguing its development, attention and focus should be shifted to the education sector.
We have failed to acknowledge the fact that the psychological beast (corruption) thwarting our progress can be traced to the schools.
In an attempt to eradicate corruption, we must try as much as possible to end the corrupt practices in schools.
Proposed Solutions to Examination Malpractice
It has been established that teachers involve in exam malpractice. However, parents are vicariously liable because they only celebrate the academic success of their children, not minding whether it is the true reflection of the children’s abilities. In some cases, the schools are compelled to engage in corrupt practices in order not to lose the parents.
The children’s performance in the external examination determines and promotes patronage. So, to end this immoral act, parents have to desist from encouraging it. Parents are advised to properly admonish their children right from the home. If a child undergoes proper upbringing at home he or she is less likely to engage in malpractices.
The fear of failure is one of the most prominent causes of malpractice. Undue emphasis is placed on the academic results of students rather than their skills, morals and professionalism.
A student who fears the consequences of his or her failure will fall mercy to the option of cheating his way through his or her papers. Rather than over-emphasise the grades of students, other aspects of their education and life should be trained, worked on and handsomely appreciated when turning out appropriately.
A highly disciplined student and a talented writer should be equally recognised as well.
More so, students who can apprehend their peers in the act of malpractice and can report them should be greatly rewarded and supported with incentives. This will create zeal to fish out the culprits among good students and students eventually reported should be punished and even rusticated from institutions of learning.
Besides, the teachers are corrupt because the school system is corrupt. Teachers whose students fail external examinations are incompetent, according to the school management.
The teachers are, therefore, compelled to manipulate their ways to avoid the stigma. This means schools should also stop solely assessing teachers’ competence through the performance of students.
Lastly, the government and the examining body should implement the existing law against exam malpractice. Erring schools and teachers should be punished to serve as a deterrent to others.
Proposed Solutions to Sexual Molestation
Since the schools can no longer be trusted because the students are not safe in the hands of the teachers, parents, therefore, have a vital role to play to eradicate these corrupt practices. Most times, parental disconnection keeps encouraging this act.
Victims of sexual molestation who are too distant from their parents will die in silence. They have no one to report to or confide in. There is a need for parents to establish a strong relationship with their children. This will bring them closer to each other and enable the students to report their ugly experiences.
Apart from that there should be strict laws in the schools cautioning the teachers against this corrupt practice. Schools should make their teachers sign an undertaking on corrupt practices. Any teacher who breaks the law should be heavily sanctioned.
Take for instance, Lagos court sentenced a 41-year-old teacher to life imprisonment for defiling a six-year-old pupil. This kind of punishment will serve as a deterrent to immoral acts among teachers, especially the male ones.
Also, schools should emphasise sartorial modesty. They should reiterate their commitment to decent dressing within and outside the school premises. Miniskirts and all other indecent outfits should be prohibited.
Intense supervision of students by the school authorities will also help to curb the corrupt practice. Students who engage in sexual misconduct like sitting on the legs of the opposite sex and/or kissing should be made to pay the price for their actions.
Unhealthy relationships among students and immoral teacher-student relationships should be discouraged.
Akeem Alao teaches at Landmark College, Ikorodu,
