The West African Examinations Council, WAEC, has decried the
rate of examination malpractice among students, adding that students now
drug invigilators using dangerous chemicals.
The council’s Registrar, Dr. Iyi Uwadiae, who stated this, yesterday,
during a press briefing at WAEC International Centre, Lagos, proposed
international summit on examination malpractices for October 19 and 20.
He berated the dimension examination malpractices were taking on the continent of Africa and particularly in Nigeria.
He said: “In some cases, and particularly during private
examinations, candidates now go to centres fully armed with guns and
other weapons. For the public examinations, there are centres, and
especially private schools, where invigilators are drugged to pave way
for them to engage in exam malpractices.”
According to him, while private candidates now go to examination
centres with guns and other weapons, some private schools in connivance
with the candidates, are now in the habit of drugging invigilators using
dangerous chemicals.
He said:“Waging war against examination malpractices has become very
expensive and more difficult, particularly with the advent of social
media.
“The most notorious challenge facing examining bodies and other
educational institutions in WAEC member-countries is examination
malpractice.
“Currently, the malaise has assumed dangerous and criminal dimensions
on the heels of some advancements in technology, which created the
smartphones, social media, among others.
“The council, in the five member countries, has introduced several
measures, adopted various strategies and deployed technologies at great
costs in the fight against the ever-festering menace.”
“Misguided candidates and their adult collaborators, sometimes
including school authorities, teachers, parents and, most recently,
operators of rogue websites, have continued to devise ingenious and
sophisticated methods of cheating, leading to an exponential increase in
reported cases of fraud in public examinations.”
