By Nandi Bette
One of the easiest ways to destroy a nation is to attack and bastardise the education system. Once education is rendered sub-standard, everything about the nation becomes fake.
There will be fake teachers who cannot spell the subjects they teach; there will be quack doctors who carry out faulty diagnosis, and send patients to early graves through wrong prescriptions; there will be fake nurses who may not even know how to properly administer common injections.
There will be fake engineers who build houses, construct roads and bridges that collapse and kill innocent citizens; there will be morally bankrupt politicians who make fake promises, loot the treasury and govern without conscience.
There is no gainsaying the fact that over the years, the Nigerian education system has been witnessing a season of down-turn characterised by poor funding; gross decay of public schools infrastructure; zero teacher motivation; indiscipline among learners, and a general fall in standards.
In addition to these, the most dangerous problem that confronts education today is the evil of examination malpractice.
Examination malpractice is the sum total of all acts that are employed to put a candidate in a vantage position to do better during an examination. It is any form of cheating which directly or indirectly falsifies the ability of a candidate in a given examination.
Examination malpractice is any illegal, dishonest or premeditated act committed by learners, teachers, parents or examination officials to violate examination rules so that a candidate or group of candidates could get unfair advantage before, during or after an examination.
It comes in different forms that manifest both inside and outside the examination hall. Truth is, examination malpractice has become a widespread problem in Nigeria. It is a menace that threatens the integrity of the nation’s education system.
It is no longer news that students and some of those entrusted with conduct of examinations sometimes carry out various forms of malpractice including cheating, impersonation and leakage of examination papers. But what is becoming most worrisome is the role some parents play in aiding, abetting and promoting examination malpractice.
Parents are the primary care givers and role models of their children. They are expected to be responsible for instilling values such as honesty, integrity and hard work in the children. Unfortunately, in our time, some parents have failed in this responsibility. They are actively involved in encouraging their children to engage in this indecent behavior of examination malpractice.
Reports show that some parents go as low as paying bribes to teachers and invigilators to allow their children cheat during examinations. Others are known to hire mercenaries to write examinations for their children. Some parents take children to register in the so-called magic centres where as much as N70,000 or more is paid as cooperation fee to facilitate cheating during examination.
Moreover, some parents put undue pressure on their children to perform excellently well in examinations, regardless of how they go about it. For them the end justifies the means. This makes children to believe that success in life is attainable only through academic excellence. This impression often leads to a do-or-die mentality among students. It in turn, fuels the desire to cheat and engage in all forms of malpractice.
It is important to note that examination malpractice has far reaching consequences both for the individual and the nation as earlier enumerated at the beginning of this discourse. It is evident that Nigeria has witnessed a gradual decline in moral values. This decline has adversely affected all facets of our national life.
Through examination malpractice, the moral fabric of society is further being eroded. This is posing a grave threat to national development. To avert a national calamity, parents should take responsibility for curbing examination malpractice, rather than encouraging the growth of the malaise.
Parents owe themselves the responsibility for the proper and upright upbringing of children. After all, the Holy Bible in Proverbs 22:6 says: “Train up a child in a way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it ” Examination malpractice is wickedness. It is not generosity. It is the wrong way to go. It is evil. Parents, please say NO to examination malpractice!
- Bette is a senior citizen, educationist and author.