In the wake of West Africa Examination Council’s (WAEC) decision to sanction 118 Lagos schools for examination malpractices, the issue of academic dishonesty is attracting attention. Schools, both private and public, find themselves under immense pressure to ensure students perform well in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), often resorting to unethical practices as a shortcut to success, GBENGA SALAU reports
• As WAEC Sanctions 118 Lagos Schools
A recent memo addressed to the President of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools by the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) listed the names of schools in Lagos State that were sanctioned for exam malpractices during the West African senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for school candidates in 2024.
In the memo, titled, ‘Decision of 78th meeting of the Nigerian Examination Committee — Serious Warning and Derecognition for examination malpractice’, 118 schools were mentioned.
While 109 schools were warned, nine schools were derecognised by WAEC.
In arriving at its decision, WAEC said the Nigeria Examinations Committee investigated various reported cases of malpractices and consequently decided to derecognise the listed schools.
Perusing the names of schools on the list showed that it was a mix of both high and low fees paying schools as well as government owned schools. In all, there were over 20 government owned schools with two of the nine derecognised.
Earlier, when WAEC was releasing the 2024 WASSEC results, it withheld the results of 215,267 candidates nationally for various reported cases of examination malpractices.
Worthy to mention is that one of the schools, a government owned school in Amuwo Odofin Local Council, which was sanctioned this year with a strong warning, had issues of exam malpractice in the 2023 exam diet. And it was not clear whether the school was sanctioned in 2023.
Initially, WAEC withheld all the 2023 exam results of the said school but later released them though it cancelled all the English and Mathematics results in the school for that year.
Findings by The Guardian from one of the pupils that participated in the examination in this said school revealed that each student was asked to pay N8000 to facilitate exam malpractices, which majority of the students complied with.
She further disclosed that each student was asked to pay additional N1,000 each on the days for English and Mathematics exams.
According to the pupil, on each day of the exams, answers to each subject were sent to them via phone once the exams start.
She added that on some days when external supervisors come in, the year tutor will ask that they submit their phones, probably, because the external supervisor did not play games or what was offered was not enough.
She revealed that on the day of mathematics and English, despite the external supervisor presence, the year tutor did not ask them to submit their phones.
So, they continued copying the results from their phones while writing the examination.
Until recently, massive examination malpractice was not very common in government owned schools.
This was why some students do not usually write their WASSEC examinations in government owned schools when they get to Senior Secondary School 3, preferring the miracle centres, which are usually private schools.
Speaking on this, a former principal in a government owned school, Mr. Agbeniga Adebayo, disclosed that the growing rate of examination malpractices in public schools in Lagos owes to the pressure to produce good results from some quarters on the teachers and principals, who put the blame of exam failure on the teachers and the school heads.
According to him, the authorities usually want to see the students come out with good result despite some of the pupils are not committed to their studies.
“Many students are no longer so much interested in academics. They want short cut. So the teachers and principals aid them because there is so much pressure on the school to perform. Once your school performs below expectation, there are sanctions for you, as a school principal.
“WAEC is at the senior secondary school level, if your school performs below expectations, you can be moved to a junior school. In an education district, if care is not taken you may be redeployed. So, because of that punitive measure, everybody feels that I have to find a way out and in finding a way out, they do all sorts.
“Mind you, it is not as if the teachers are not trying in terms of teaching, but what about the factor of students and parents’ attitude to education. A single factor of teaching cannot booster performance. As a result, teachers, school authority, management will find a way out.
“In fact, at times, it is done without the knowledge of the principal, though that could put question on the leadership of the school. Each teacher will work to ensure the success of his or her subject. They will assist the students so that if the school performs very well, it gets recognition from the authorities like the district, tutor general and the state government. But if your school performs below, there are sanctions.”
Adebayo added that some of the management of these schools assist their students during examination because they want to be rated among the best when the state government is rating schools, because performance in external examination is a major yardstick.
“It is an organised examination crime. At times, right from elementary class when pupils fail, from the local councils, the results would be returned to the schools for the head teacher and teachers to adjust the result upward. The pupils failed, the Education secretary at the local council will ask that something positive should be done on the result and it will be returned to the school.”
He also observed that the number of external supervisors usually deployed by WAEC is not enough to cover schools, which limits the oversight responsibilities.
Beyond sanctions for the schools, should the teachers involved not be penalised?
Adebayo said there are usually punitive measures from WAEC, including fines, which are passed on to the individuals.
He also said that the state government usually set up disciplinary committees to look into reported cases with some of those affected demoted after being found guilty.
On the rising rate of exam malpractices in private schools, Adebayo said it is because of status symbols that many parents send their children to private schools and the schools wanting to justify the fees collected often engage in all manner of activities to see their pupils come out in flying colours.
“That is what many of them do and that is why there is proliferation of private schools. So, they help the pupils and helping them often start from junior class, and sometimes, from elementary class. When you send your child to a private school, how would you feel when the child brings home a poor result? The perception would be; what is the essence of paying school fees? So what the private schools do is to boost the pupils’ performance and by the time they boost them to that level of SSS3, the students do not have the capacity to excel in academic at that level.
“So, what they do during the WAEC exam is to assist them, including bribing external supervisors that come to monitor the exams. And once the external supervisor is enticed with money, it is a done deal.”
Adebayo suggested that the quality assurance department should be strengthened to ensure that they carry out their assignment diligently.
“If Quality Assurance Department that periodically check on teachers’ delivery and records adjudged them to have carried out their duties appropriately, so, why should the teachers and schools be held liable when students fail their examination.”
Also commenting, the President, National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), Chief Yomi Otubela, said NAPPS, as an association, is deeply committed to ensuring that private schools uphold the highest standards of education and ethics.
“With regard to the WAEC letter concerning schools in Lagos that were warned or derecognised for their involvement in examination malpractice, we will engage with WAEC and the affected schools to understand the specific breaches and offer corrective measures.
“NAPPS Nigeria will continue to encourage stricter internal controls within schools to prevent such incidents in the future.
“As a committed organisation, NAPPS Nigeria is determined to transform private education in the country and ensure that our schools produce globally competitive students who excel based on merit.
“To raise awareness among members about the malaise of examination malpractices, NAPPS has organised regular workshops and training sessions for school proprietors, teachers, and students to emphasise the importance of integrity and the long-term benefits of honest academic achievements.
“Furthermore, NAPPS is committed to collaborating with examination bodies such as WAEC and NECO to monitor private schools closely and ensure compliance with established standards. Any schools found engaging in malpractices are sanctioned in accordance with the law.
“In addition, NAPPS enforces a strict code of conduct for member schools. Any school found breaching this code of conduct faces severe sanctions, which may include suspension or expulsion from NAPPS.
“Similarly, individuals who facilitate malpractice undermine the integrity of our education system and must be held accountable to deter future occurrences,” Otubela stated.
Lagos State Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education provides regulatory oversight for public and private primary and secondary schools in the state.
Commenting on the issue, the Public Affairs Officer of the ministry, Mr. Kayode Sutton, said the ministry has written to Lagos State Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM) as the agency that is in charge of disciplining of teachers in the state.
“They will investigate, as it is not enough to allege and indict. So, they will look into what transpired and recommend sanctions were necessary to those found culpable.
“For the private schools, the Office of Quality Assurance will be communicated in order to investigate since they are in charge of private schools. They will do their investigation and recommend further actions.”
On when the ministry will make public its findings and probably sanction offending schools and teachers, he said: “I may not be able to put a timeline to when the investigations by the state government will be concluded but it should not be so long, so that before the next exam, all issues would have been concluded.”
