Examination bodies in the country have been charged to emulate the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) in the fight against exam malpractices.
The charge was made by the immediate past Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Education, Sonny Echono in JAMBULETTIN published Monday, while
addressing some critical stakeholders in the education sector as well as heads of institutions and examination bodies at a special two-day retreat on A Level examinations organised by the board.
Echono decried the level of rot in the nation’s education system, stating that the sector was at risk and enjoined all stakeholders to ensure that the future of the Nigerian child was safeguarded.
He then decried the high incidence of infractions in the 2021 A Level examinations of both IJMB and JUPEB, but expressed optimism that the meeting would proffer lasting solutions to the menace.
He pointed out that a detection system needs to be put in place to detect and nip these sharp practices in the bud before they destroy whatever gains had that had been recorded in the education sector.
The retired permanent secretary noted that investigations by diverse agencies had revealed the presence of examination cartels that had penetrated major examination bodies thereby undermining many of their operational processes.
He lamented the behaviour of parents who are accomplices in exam malpractices, saying that in their desperation to secure high scores for their wards, pay humongous sums of money to examination cartels.
“It has been revealed that a lot of parents are not teaching their children good morals as these children are being exposed to a society where one no longer needs to read to get good grades as all one needs is to pay and secure any chosen grades,” Echono said.
He added, “If at the foundation level we are cheating to gain admission and
certificates, then we are in trouble. We need to act now or our certificates would become worthless in the long run.”
Echono said in the past JAMB was a hotbed of corruption but things had changed under the leadership of Prof. Is-haq Oloyede.
Similarly, chairman, JAMB Equal Opportunity Group (JEOG), Prof. Peter Okebukola, called for more proactive measures to tackle the menace of examination malpractice which, according to him, had spread to almost all spheres of national life.
