THE IMPACT OF EXAMINATION MALPRACTICE ON THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

THE IMPACT OF, EXAMINATION MALPRACTICE ON, THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

CHAPITER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 STUDY BACKGROUND

Education has existed from the beginning of time. Humans constantly learn new things in order to grow and advance in their life, which explains why. Over time, society as a whole has institutionalized education in recognition of the crucial role it plays in both the lives of individual people and the health of society as a whole. Based on this idea, Eze in Oforka (2012) states that “education is considered as the crucial transforming tool and powerful instrument for socio-economic empowerment.” Anyikwa and Igwe (2015) state a similar viewpoint when they claim that “education is a sure means to raise the awareness of individual members of any community in order to create peace, harmony, and national progress.”

According to Okoh (2017), the educational process is the act of preserving, fostering, and transmitting a people’s culture from one generation to the next. Because education is a process, it is more of a process than an idea. It is the continual all-around development of the person to get them ready for life in society. Since education is described in the paragraph above as a process and as such an action rather than a notion, it may be considered an activity that involves the transfer of information or knowledge. Assessment is a necessary component of both the educational processes of education and knowledge transfer. Each class ends with an evaluation, which is a necessary step in the teaching and learning process. A more rigorous examination (examination) is occasionally given in between evaluations, frequently at the end of each term, semester, or session. The results of this test are used to determine placement. To be in this position, you must be promoted to a higher class, achieve a high grade, obtain a respectable diploma that will aid in your job search, and so forth.

An examination is defined as a formal assessment of one’s knowledge or proficiency in a particular subject, frequently accomplished through the completion of written or practical tasks. Exams are used to determine this since they may evaluate or test the caliber of knowledge that students have acquired over time. Therefore, the test could be internal, external, written, oral, or a combination of the two. Internal exams might be things like continuous evaluation results, terminal exams, semester exams, annual exams, and promotion exams, to name a few. (Benard,1988). School Certificate Examinations (NECO) are administered by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) and the National Examination Council (NEC), in addition to the Common Entrance Examinations for admittance into secondary institutions. The Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) currently administers the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

Examination appears to be a portal or door that makes achieving the acquisition of new statuses easier, as was previously stated. The vast majority of test takers want to go to all lengths to make sure they pass their examinations, regardless of the repercussions of their actions, for this very crucial reason. Examinee misconduct is a major roadblock that has brought Nigeria’s educational system to a complete halt. According to Maduemezia (2003), the Senior Cambridge Local Examination papers that were leaked before they were intended to be given out in 1914 were the first incident of examination misconduct in Nigeria. As a result, examination fraud, which had been declining earlier, started to increase in frequency in 1970, including people other than the applicants. Since then, examination fraud has become substantially more sophisticated. The West African Examination Council (WAEC), which was the only organization tasked with the responsibility of conducting public examinations in the country, faced widespread public concern in 1977, which marked a turning point in the history of examination malpractice in Nigeria.

Awanbor (2004) coined the phrase “examination malpractice” to refer to a criminal act carried out by a single student or in concert with others, including other students, parents, teachers, supervisors, invigilators, computer operators, secretarial staff, or any other person or group of individuals, before, during, or after an examination in order to obtain unjustified marks or grades. In this regard, the study’s goal is to evaluate how examination fraud affects the educational system.

Statement of the research problem: 1.2

The majority of Nigeria’s secondary and tertiary institutions have experienced several infrastructure improvements, which have continuously revolutionized the country’s educational system. However, cheating on exams has grown to be a bottleneck in Nigeria’s educational system’s expansion and development, keeping it from attaining its full potential. Low socioeconomic status, social group, fear of failing, and a lack of confidence on the side of the students are some of the variables that lead to test-taking misconduct.

as stated by Ayode (2015). Exams remain the finest instrument for an objective assessment and evaluation of what a learner has accomplished after a time of schooling or training, even though students’ performance in exams may not be a real indication of their abilities. When students cheat on exams, the goal of the test is changed, and the educational system as a whole degenerates. Ifeanyi (2017) contends that any adulteration in the examination process is an adulteration of the education system, which results in half-baked students and a decline in the nation’s effective human capital development, as examination is one of the most reliable indicators of students’ performance in a given training.

Contrarily, despite the fact that there have been many studies on examination fraud, none have examined how it affects the educational system in Nigeria. As a result, there is a gap in the literature, which is what inspired the researcher to carry out this study on how examination fraud affects Nigeria’s educational system.

1.3 STUDY’S GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

Examining the effects of test fraud on the Nigerian educational system is the study’s main goal. Additional study goals in detail include:

i. To determine how much cheating occurs during exams among students at postsecondary institutions.

ii. To identify the factors contributing to examination fraud in Nigerian secondary schools and tertiary institutions

iii. To determine the impact of examination fraud on secondary school pupils in Nigeria’s academic performance.

iii. To determine whether examination fraud will have a significant influence on Nigeria’s educational system.

v. To give a plan of action to reduce student involvement in cheating on exams.

Research hypothesis (1.4)

The following research hypothesis serves as a guide for the study:

Ho1: There is little examination malpractice among students in tertiary institutions.

The level of examination fraud among students in academic institutions is considerable.

Ho2: Exam fraud has no appreciable impact on Nigeria’s educational system.

Examination fraud has a huge impact on Nigeria’s educational system, according to Hi2.

1.5 IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY

The entire Nigerian secondary school system, the state and federal governments, and other researchers who wish to conduct similar research on the aforementioned topic will greatly benefit from the study on the impact of examination malpractice on the educational system in Nigeria because the study’s findings will inform the government on the impact of examination malpractice on the educational system in Nigeria and will also reveal its causes, effects, and solutions.

1.6 AIM OF THE STUDY

The study on the effects of test fraud on Nigeria’s educational system is only applicable to tertiary institutions in the state of Lagos. Examined in the study will be the impact of test fraud on Nigeria’s educational system, as well as its causes, effects, and potential solutions. Only the University of Lagos State in Nigeria is included in the study.

Limitations of the study: 1.7

While conducting the study, the researchers ran into some minor obstacles, just as in every human endeavor. The researcher was forced to choose a small sample size that only included students from the University of Lagos State in Lagos State because there was little existing literature on the topic due to the fact that it was a new discourse. As a result, the researcher had to incur additional costs and spend a lot of time searching for relevant materials, literature, or information. Therefore, conclusions from this study cannot be generalized to other elementary schools in other Nigerian states. Additionally, the researcher’s concurrent involvement in this study and other academic activity will prevent them from giving the research their full attention. Nevertheless, despite the difficulties experienced during the research, every component was minimized in order to deliver the best results and ensure the success of the study.

1.8 TERMS ARE DEFINED

Malpractices: Whether internal or external, these actions are typically not in accordance with established standards and regulations.

Exam malpractice is typically described as a purposeful conduct done in violation of the official examination standards intended to provide a candidate an undue advantage or disadvantage.

Education system: At the federal, state, or local levels, an education system refers to the economic and social components that commonly make up public schools. These elements include public finance, educational infrastructure, faculty, pay, perks for employees, and a variety of other things.