By: Teacher Dr. Blessing Egbagbara (JP) DFIPCER
The concept or perceptions of Examination are variedly often defined by students as end of course assessment or end of term procedures. Some students also see it as the biggest test which are more anxiety provoking and formal.
To the teacher, it is a way or procedure to ascertaining the extent to which the student or learner have mastered the content of a particular course or subject.
To the school head, who may be the Head teacher, or the principal as the name implies in the Primary or Secondary School, Examination may be a measure of success or failure of the curriculum (Education) offered by the school. Examination ordinally is a set of questions or tests designed to measure the degree of mastery of what a candidate has been taught or ought to have learnt. Naturally it involves the persons being assessed referred to as the Examinee’s (Learner) and the person doing the assessment- the examiners.
Examination ethics refers to a moral Philosophy or a system of moral principles that guides an examination. One major moral Philosophy behind an examination is that the examinee has been or has had opportunity to be brought to a certain level before the examination. This confers a measure of confidence. The school head either at the Primary school or Secondary School have a crucial role to play in this direction by ensuring that staff live up to their responsibilities to their students (Ugodulunwa C.A 2002).
The moral principles that guide an Examination is anchored on each examinee depending solely on his /her memory to answer the examination questions being presented before him/her and not depending on the examiner or all other sources to answer it. Everything should be put in place to ensure this without inconveniencing the examinee unduly. The school head therefore have crucial and multifaceted roles to play in this, by training the students to have faith in their memories and not mobile handsets and the invigilators. He should deploy disciplined and principled supervisors and invigilators and not those that will compromise because of poverty and greed and provide adequate space and logistics supports. Standard rules and regulations to serve as a useful guide to meet the above demands.
In the Nigerian Primary and Secondary School systems, we conduct both internal and external examinations. The conducts of these two sets of examination poses a lot of challenges to both the students, the teachers, school heads, The Ministry staffs and external examination bodies.
It is therefore the aim of this writer to expose the Nature of examination, purpose and problems of examination and the challenges the management of examination poses in our present day secondary and primary education system in Delta state.
The Nature of Examination Assessment in the past was heavily marked by reliance in a single examination of a learner (students) which is usually done at the end of a school term for External examination.
The state, federal ministries of Education and other examination bodies like the West African Examination Council (WAEC), National Examination Council (NECO), Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB), conducts examination and assessment of students yearly at the Primary, Secondary and students seeking admission into tertiary institutions, outside termly and weekly test and assessment given by classroom teachers, which are not taken formal and the results does not count. It is therefore very convenient to say that the overall assessment of the students, either success or failure are determined by the examination which is one at yearly conducted at the academic programme at levels of education or session.
Therefore the use of one single examination to determine the success or failure of a students or in falling a crucial and major decision on the academic of a student may have given rise to alot of problems, which may include undue summative evaluation, Isolation of teachers from the major assessment of the leaners, (students), Anxiety and undue pressure on the part of the students to pass the examination by all means leading to buying conscience of the Examination Supervisors, Invigilators, Ministry Officials, on examination monitoring, the examination officials conducting the examination, certificates racketing and of course examination malpractice which is a very big cracker warm corruption that is eating very deep in the primary and secondary education system today in Delta State and assessment result not be used to improving and monitoring of the learner’s progress, but focus is only placed on cognitive aspect of learning. The arguments against this one-shot examination, with the above listed problems and others arising from it had led to the continuous assessment made of evaluation in Nigeria, Delta State inclusive which is not still very effective today.
The natural policy of education (FME 1981) as cited by C.A Ugodulunnwa 2012, stated that with effects by 1982, educational assessment and evaluation will be liberalized by basing them in whole or in part on continuous assessment of the progress of the individual learner.
The concept of continuous assessment is defined by the federal Ministry of Education (FME 1980) as a mechanism whereby the final grading of a student in the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains of behaviour takes account in a systematic way of all his performance during a given period of schooling. Such an assessment involves the use of a variety of evaluation for the purpose of grading and improving the learning and performance of the learners. (C.A Ugodulunwa 2012) from the aforementioned definition, it implies that continuous assessment is a systematic, comprehensive, cumulative and guidance oriented in nature and it is generally believed that continuous assessment would give the teacher a greater involvement in the overall assessment of the learner (students). It will also provide a more valid assessment of the students and encourage the teachers to be innovative in their instructions and provide better and vital information for better and effective guidance of the leaners (students) in his learning endeavour. It will equally give a basis for improvement of the teacher’s instructional methods and reduces examination malpractice (Ojerinde & Falayajo 1984 as cited by C.A Ugodulunwa 2012), as one of the major causes of examination malpractice today in primary and secondary schools is lack of the individual teacher involvement in continuous assessment as most teachers don’t know what is uploaded for the them as continuous assessment of the students they teach. (Egbagbara 2008).
Another reason is that with the introduction and effective usage of continuous assessment in Nigeria school system, the teachers will have apple opportunity for participation in both internal and external examination of the students, but the magnitude of the work involved in continuous assessment operations in the school system requires that the individuals and subject teachers attitudinally prepared to meet the challenges required by their work load. The ministry of education through the school head can encourage and motivate the process of continuous assessment in the school system by organizing training, seminar and workshops, introducing a factor based on class size in the calculation of salaries and monitoring the teachers regularly and constructively.
Major Aims (Purpose) of Examination right for the 2nd Century BC, where examination was first used by the Chinese, it has served many functions, which ranges across cultures, recruitment in civil service and other categories of work, placement, students etc. and these purposes have help to highlight the ethical values that underlies them. Some aim (purpose) of
Examination include:
1. It can be designed to ascertain whether a specific standard of knowledge or performance have been achieved. Akinpelu (1993) as cited by C.A Ugodulunwa 2012), sees examination as a set standard for students to achieve and teachers to use in preparation of their students. Since the attachment of good standard and excellence in values is cherished by everyone than any preference that particular performance level has been attained when in fact, it has not been attained is also unethical. It is the duty of the school heads to ensure that the questions in each examination are of commensurate standard for specific set of students.
2. Examination can also serve the purpose of monitoring education progress of the learner country and state. The function can be achieved through possible and carefully designed examination for monitoring education progress in order to provide database for comparing educational standards. This kind of examination is useful in the actual implementation of National and State curriculum. It is formative in nature and useful in reporting the attainment level of different groups of students (boys /girls) urban/rural) in public and private schools.
3. Another function examination is that it can be used for diagnostic and treatment of students learning problems. This can be done by providing content diagnosis and specific feedbacks to students, teachers and parents. These feedbacks enables the school administration to highlight specific errors which students make and suggest to teachers, better methods of presentation or the contents. This will help to reduce errors.
4. Examination can also aim at giving an objectives assessment and evaluation of what learners have achieved with a period of school. This means that through examination the level of attainment of individual learners can be objectively ascertained, hence any action that undermines this effort can be regarded as unethical.
5. In a competitive Nation and State like Nigeria and Delta State, examination is used as a valid instrument for grading and sort individuals according to quality of performance.
They are used for selection of candidates into different institutions of learning, promotions of learners and workers and employment purposes. Any attempt to sideline the best candidates and give undue advantage to undeserving ones hurts the other competitors and deceives the users of the products and this constitutes an immoral act,
6. sometimes in the future, the truth will manifest with the attendants damaged (C.A Ugodulunwa 2012).
Finally, it is also used for certification of candidates who have successfully completed a certain level of training. Such examination serves as a means of assuring the public that the candidates certified by the institution as having done well in their examination process, the quality and competences inserted in the certificates example include: West African Examination Council, The National Examination Council, Ministry of Education at the State level and Federal levels Nigeria Universities Commission, National Board for Technical Education etc. Certify students for completing some levels of their educational programmes. Any unethical behaviour during examination that distorts the performance of the learner who sat for examination undermines the validity of the examination.
From the above aims/functions of examination, it is very clear that one type of examination can serve for all possible uses of examination. It is also obvious that the examinations are relevant for taking important decisions about learners, teachers, curriculum and the entire educational system.
It is the therefore pertinent and surprising that problems relating to examination always attracts public interest.
One major problem militating against examination and constitute a major national problem and disgrace to the teaching profession and the educational system is examination malpractice indulged by majority of teachers in public primary and secondary schools in Delta State and Nigeria.
Examination malpractice in Nigeria and Delta State School system One of the national problems in the educational system in Nigeria cum Delta State today is examination malpractice. Examination malpractice is seen as any unlawful behaviour which violates the established and conventional rules governing the conduct of any given examination (Azinge 1995 P.7, as cited by C.A Ugodulunwa 2012). It can also be regarded as any wrong act before, during and after any examination. The wrong doing may be on the part of the learners (Candidates), invigilators (Teacher), Supervisors (teachers), school head (Head teacher/Principal), Parents, Ministry officials, (Examination monitors) Examination bodies,officials or any other person, who is directly or indirectly involved in an examination.
Examination malpractice is both internal and external and have existed in Nigeria for a long time, precisely 1978 and are presently at a very alarming state and rate. It constitutes a great source of concern to all examination bodies as well as well-meaning Nigerians and Deltans.
In our primary and secondary school system in Nigeria, Delta State inclusive, the form of examination malpractice as identified by various writers such as Okoh 1996, Oluyeba & Daramola 1993, Onotume 1993, Ugodulunwa 2012, as cited by Egbagbara 2020 include:
1. Impersonation which occurs when a student in collaboration with the teachers, supervisor, examination monitors from the examination bodies and ministry of Education officials gets someone to write the examination for him/her.
2. Smuggling of answer scripts which occurs when a candidate script is replaced within or outside the examination hall.
3. Mass cheating in the examination hall which occurs through exchange of information, request for such (written or verbal), bringing prohibited answers written on objects such as copying already made answers on the chalk board by subjects’ teachers or subject specialist hired, piece of papers rolled into ball point pen, money, use of Android phone, key points and text books into the examination hall.
4. Subject teachers entering the hall illegally and rendering assistance to their students with active conivance of the school authorities, supervisors and invigilators, monitors from the governmental ministry and examination bodies responsible for proper conduct of the examination.
5. Examination leakages which occur when students or any unauthorized persons have a foreknowledge of the content of the question paper before the examination.
6. Insults, threat, assault and beating of the supervisors and invigilators, examination monitors who are perceived to be obstructing cheating.
7. Certificate racketing in form of changes in and or issuance of false certificates or statements of results.
8. Turning blind eyes on obvious malpractices during examination by supervisors, invigilators, examination monitors from examination bodies & government ministry concern with the conduct of proper examination, after being bribed with money.
9. Exchanging answer scripts at custodian point by custodian of examination monitors/ Custodians from examination bodies.
Having identified the most common forms of examination malpractice, it is very paramount that the remote causes of the syndrome be looked into as the conduct of examination involves the students, teachers, school heads, the supervising ministry officials and the examination bodies being responsible for the conduct of examination. It therefore implies that examination malpractice occurs when one or two things goes wrong with one or more of the above-mentioned critical stakeholders or role players.
Therefore, the most common forms of examination malpractice include but not limited to poor invigilation procedures, the greed to acquire wealth by supervisors and examination custodians, unhealthy pressure from school, parents on their children and school heads to have more students register, failure by students,
lost of labour in dignity of labour, as the common palace of “Who Pass Naw know book”, ineffective teaching and learning in school and in societal values as a result of the recent common saying among our youths, that education is a scam, aiding teacher’s promotions to success, rate of students in public examination, it is done in some states of Nigeria, poor examination questions, Teacher’s do or die to be supervisors yearly to make more money from students and their parents amongst others.Ways of school heads ensuring appropriate examination practice
The problems of examination malpractice are enormous and poses a greater challenge to the government examination bodies, school heads and students though they are all actively involved knowingly or unknowingly.
The federal government and state government have in the past instituted committees to look into the cases and prevention of examination malpractice such as leakages, involvement of teachers, examination monitors and students with a view to make recommendations to the government which have geared the government at the federal level of passing the miscellaneous offences decree of 1984, which specified what constitutes examination malpractices and punishment for culprits. But unfortunately, the enforcement of the jail term of 21 years for examination malpractice offenders was not implemented.
Though at the state level, some teachers who are supervisors have been hired by committees on examination ethic and punished with punishment such as demotion in rank, dismissal as well as blacklisted from examination supervisors for number of years.
Though the examination bodies have been trying to minimize examination malpractice, these efforts include imposition of punishment on every candidate to serve as a deterrent to others. Such punishment includes handing offenders to law enforcement agents for prosecution, cancellation of candidates results and or banning such candidates for taking the WAEC examination for a period of time, preventing schools where mass cheating occurs from serving as WAEC centres and reporting
array examiners, supervisors or invigilators to their employers for disciplinary actions and blacklisting them against further examination. Most of the internal and external examination take place in school and school heads should have a major role to play in upholding examination ethics.
Management of examination ethics should therefore be one of the major challenges the 21st century school heads are facing.
With the present wave of examination malpractice both internal and external posing serious challenges to show administrators, school heads ought to team up with the examination bodies both internal and external and the government at the federal and state levels in finding everlasting solution to the cankerworm that is eating deeply into the fabrics of the Nigeria cum Delta State education systems.
In order to find solutions to the problems and proper and effective management of examination ethics in the Delta State Basic and Secondary education system, the following underlisted functions have to be carried out by the school system.
1. The school head should bring out strict and elaborate security regulations in the development of examination questions, typing of the questions, keeping custody of the questions, marking of the scripts, processing of results and issuance of terminal results to the students. The school head as the administrator should effectively manage these activities in order to check malpractice, before, during and after examinations in their schools.
There should be three sets of questions to be drafted by subject teachers and submitted to the principal at the beginning of the term for safe keeping which should be selected and supervised by the principal at the appropriate time for the selection of examination questions.
2. Serve punishment be meted out to teachers and students who are involved in examination malpractice.
Existing sanctions against culprits be made stiffer. In the case of students involved in malpractice, they should be disqualified from taking such examination and
