Exam Cheats To Be Imprisoned In Nigeria

Minister For Education, Mr  Nyesom Wike

For many years, examination malpractice has been a source of headache for many stakeholders in the education sector. From the foundation level to the tertiary, many examination cheats cause trouble, almost destablishing the systems at times.

Many people have expressed worry that even those who are supposed to curb the menace and instill discipline in pupils and students are involved on many occasions.

These include teachers and other school administrators, security officers and parents. While the crisis rages on, the Federal Government recently initiated a measure it believes can curb cheating.

President Goodluck Jonathan, through the immediate past Education Minister, Prof. Ruqquayat Rufa’i, announced that the Federal Government was determined to tackle examination malpractice by introducing stiffer penalties. In fact, the administration just introduced a fine of N200, 000 or five -year jail term or both.

Rufa’i had tabled a memo before the Federal Executive Council, seeking approval for the enactment of an Act to amend the WAEC Act, CAP W4, Laws of 2004 to give effect to the revised convention of WAEC, 2003 in Nigeria.

The FEC has approved the amendment to an Act of WAEC, with the office of the Attorney-General reportedly fine-tuning it, before it is ultimately taking to the parliament.

However, as Nigerians await the lawmakers’ endorsement, mixed reactions have started to greet the measure.  For instance, an education consultant, Mr. Babatunde Kolade, sees the initiative as a step in the right direction. He, however, notes that since pupils sitting for WAEC are still in their formative years, it will be wrong to send those caught cheating to jail, where they will stay with hardened criminals.

He says, “Our prison system is not reformatory. So, it will be wrong to imprison pupils caught cheating. Instead of sending them to prison, I suggest that the government should establish reformatory centres for this purpose, where counsellors should be available to re-orientate them to see cheating as antithetical to success and their future.”

Hitherto, cheats caught in external examinations such as WAEC, NECO and even UTME, have not been facing prosecution. Their cases ended with “They have been handed over to the law enforcement agents.” When the bill on examination cheats in WAEC finally becomes a law, perhaps pupils may begin to take their studies seriously.

All over the world, stakeholders are worried about the spate of cheating during examinations, in secondary schools and colleges/universities. In Europe, America, Asia and Africa, the concern is the same. Little wonder various governments are coming up with stringent laws to confront the menace.

Expulsion and imprisonment are some of the measures in place to check it and the victims, as it were, are both the pupils and their teachers.

UK: Expulsion, fines

In the United Kingdom, examination cheats face expulsion and fines.  A recent report indicates that many students in UK universities have been caught cheating in examinations and coursework.

The trend, according to the report, “is on the rise.”

Over the past three years, the report says, more than 45,000 students in about 80 institutions have been found guilty of academic misconduct, ranging from bringing crib-sheets or mobile phones into examination halls, to paying private firms to write essays for them.

It adds, “Some 16,000 cases were recorded in the past year alone, as university chiefs spent millions on software to identify work reproduced from published material, or simply cut and pasted from the Internet.

“Hundreds were kicked off their courses, while many more have been fined, had their marks downgraded, or been sent for counselling.”

Ghana: Fines, imprisonment

Ghana has designed stiffer penalties to tackle examination cheats and they range from fines to outright imprisonment.

Anyone convicted for such an offence pays fines ranging from ¢6m to ¢30m and a term of imprisonment not exceeding two years.

The rule came on stream following the presidential assent to the West African Examination Council bill passed by the country’s parliament in July, last year.

The new West Africa Examinations Council Act, 2006, (Act 719), repeals the existing PNDC Law, 1991, (PNDCL 255), which provided a fine of not less than ¢20,000 and not exceeding ¢50,000 or imprisonment for a term of not more than two years for any person convicted of examination malpractice.

The Senior Public Relations Officer of WAEC, Ghana, Mrs. Agnes Teye-Cudjoe, in a recent interview, said she was hopeful that more penalties under the new law would deter candidates from engaging in any manner of malpractice.

She even reeled out more penalties, which include disqualification of the candidate and cancellation of the entire results, as well as barring the candidate from taking any of WAEC’s examination for a period of between two and three years, among others.

It’s jail term in China

In 2009, eight parents and teachers were jailed on state secret charges after using hi-tech communication devices to help pupils cheat in college entrance examination.

The cheats reportedly used scanners and wireless earpieces to transmit examination answers, which showed the desperation of parents to ensure success in the make-or-break “gaokao”, which determines the future of 10 million 18-year-olds each year.

Concerned about examination cheats, authorities now keep examination papers under armed guard, and upgrading their classification from “secret” to “top secret.”

Despite the measures, reported stories of cheating bordering on leaking of examination papers and impersonation surface every year.

I don't agree that exam cheats should be sent to jail while a lot of people who have embezzled public funds and emptied our national treasury are free enjoying their loot. Do you think exam cheats should be jailed?

Samuel Awoyinfa.