NECO said it will deploy officials from the Department of State Services and the Nigerian Civil Defense and Security Corps to the examination centres.
The National Examination Council, NECO, has stated that it is prepared to completely eliminate cases of malpractice in all its examinations.
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naijaonpoint reports that the council said it will control the threat by deploying officers from the Department of State Services and the Nigerian Civil Defense and Security Corps to the examination centres.
He also called for concerted efforts to address the problem.
This was announced by NECO’s registrar and chief executive, Professor Ibrahim Dantani Wushishi, on Monday at a one-day awareness-raising workshop on exam malpractice in Uyo, Akwa Ibom state. He called for coordinated efforts to address the problem.
Speaking on the theme of the workshop, ‘The role of educational stakeholders in tackling exam malpractice in Nigeria’, Professor Wushishi said that there is an urgent need to reduce the problem to ensure the comprehensive development of the country.
“One of the biggest challenges plaguing public testing now is the issue of test malpractice.
“This workshop is therefore thoughtful and timely, and should address the ways and means that can be taken to curb the threat and reorient the minds of young people regarding this riot, as no nation develops when its Youngsters indulge in sharp practices such as bad exam practice.
“Undoubtedly, examination malpractice has a tendency to discourage hard work among serious students, lowers educational standards, discredits certificates, and leads to the production of charlatans, thus affecting the manpower needs of the nation.
“Therefore, we must take collective responsibility to rid them of this bad habit of wanting to cut corners,” he said.
Speaking further, the NECO chief said that the Council had implemented several measures to control the problem of malpractice in the conduct of all its examinations.
He listed the measures to include; “Effective conduct of accreditation and re-accreditation exercise in schools, capture of candidate biometrics to verify spoofing of registered exam candidates and to help identify ‘wonder centers’ where exam malpractice occurs.
“Others are the use of officers from the Nigerian Civil Defense and Security Corps to provide security at examination centers to prevent bad-doers/exam malpractice agents, the provision of undercover operations by officers of the Department of Status to guide against compromising exam over the internet, daily distribution of exam quizzes and other sensitive materials, marking exercise monitoring to ensure best practices are followed, among others.
Also quoted in the statement, Minister of State for Education Goodluck Opiah praised the council for organizing the workshop, although he described it as a right step in the right direction.
While saying that bad practice in exams was a great threat to the goal of education, the minister said that the workshop would create the desired awareness to remove the threat.
“The exam is a way of assessing students’ understanding, knowledge, ability and general comprehension of what they have been taught.