Dons warn students against exam malpractice

Vice Chancellor, Gombe State University, Prof Ibrahim Musa Umar, has urged Nigerian students to study hard and avoid cutting corners through examination malpractices, cautioning that it is punishable by law.

Umar made the call while speaking at the institution’s multipurpose hall, venue of the maiden examination retreat, organised by Zone A, of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) at the weekend.

“It is easier to go slowly on your abilities because exam malpractice would slow you down, if at all one is able to successfully pass out of the university,” he said.

According to him, “No university manager would want to have his students expelled or punished adversely, but unfortunately we are often forced to do so, if they are found wanting.”

He added, “Any student caught on examination malpractice, could go to jail because there is a law guiding it. It is as bad as that.”

Also speaking Prof Shehu Musa of the University of Kano, who presented a paper titled ‘The Effects of Examination Malpractice on National Development added, “The frequency of malpractice indicates hopelessness and helplessness for the country.”

He restated that the calamity of malpractice is not just the havoc it wrecks in our educational system, but the gradual introduction of youths into fraud which is currently threatening to cripple the nation.

He identified decreased validity and reliability of measurement process (examination), production of half-baked graduates, lowering of academic standard and lack of confidence in the country’s educational system, as some of the adverse consequences of examination malpractices.