The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Malpractices

  • Fed Govt proposes three-year ban for malpractices

    Fed Govt proposes three-year ban for malpractices

    • JAMB, WAEC talk tough

    Students involved in examination malpractice during the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) should be barred from sitting for any external examinations by the West African Examination Council (WAEC), National Examination Council (NECO) and the National Board for Technical Education (NABTEB) for three years, the Federal Government has directed.

    Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, said that any school/computer-based test (CBT) centre involved in examination malpractice and/or acting as a miracle centre should be barred.

    The minister gave the directive following the menace of ‘miracle centres’.

    The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) said over 3,000 candidates were identified as either accomplices or beneficiaries of examination fraud this year.

    The directive reads: “If any school/CBT centre is derecognised by any examination body, other sister examination bodies should follow suit and derecognise the same school/CBT centre for the same number of years to run concurrently. This will send a very strong signal to operators of these miracle centres.

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    “Student(s) involved in examination malpractice should be barred from sitting for any external examinations in Nigeria, such as those conducted by WAEC, NECO, NABTEB, etc, for three years using the instrumentality of NIN. Such a stringent measure will serve as a deterrent to other students and parents.”

    “This directive is also in accordance with Section 16(2) of the Examination Malpractices Act, which states: ‘An examination body may, in the exercise of its powers under this section, circulate the name of an offending candidates, supervisors, invigilator, official, school, or examination centre to other examination bodies, which may impose similar punishment.’

    Also, WAEC threatened to cancel the results of candidates found to have posted or received live questions/answers on the internet via social media in the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination for School Candidates (WASSCE), which began last month.

    The examination body said the matter may also be reported to the Police for investigation and prosecution of all those involved.

    In a statement yesterday, WAEC said some people designed certain activities to perpetrate examination malpractice during the examination.

    It sought collaboration to ensure that the fraudulent activities of unscrupulous elements are frustrated to avoid the erosion of the efforts of diligent candidates who have prepared tirelessly for the examination.

    WAEC reiterated its stance against malpractice, stressing that it had deployed technological applications to identify those who patronise rogue websites and use their materials during the examination.

    The examination body said it had retained the use of the Candidates Identity Verification, Attendance, Malpractice, and Post-Examination Management System (CIVAMPEMS) to curb impersonation, report acts of examination malpractice that take place during the conduct of the examination for WAEC’s post-examination processes, among others.

    “Examination malpractice is the bane of quality education, and it undermines national development. It is a cancer in the education sector which requires a multidimensional approach for total annihilation.

    “In this vein, the active cooperation between WAEC and its stakeholders is invaluable in the light of the foregoing,” the statement added.

  • Adeleke, four others arraigned for alleged exam malpractices

    Senator Ademola Adeleke (Osun West) and four others were yesterday arraigned at the Federal High Court, Abuja for allegedly engaging in examination malpractices.

    Also arraigned were Sikiru Adeleke (who is said to be the senator’s relative), Alhaji Aregbesola Mufutau (the school principal), Gbadamosi Thomas Ojo (registrar) and Dare Samuel Olutope (teacher).

    The five were arraigned on a four-count charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/156/2018, filed in the name of the Inspector General of Police (IGP).

    Ademola and Sikiru were accused of fraudulently, through personation, registering as students of Ojo-Aro Community Grammar School, Ojo-Aro, Osun State to enable them sit for the National Examinations Council (NECO) examination of June/July 2017.

    The other three defendants were accused of aiding the commission of the alleged offence.

    They pleaded not guilty when the charge was read to them, following which their lawyers prayed the court to grant them bail pending trial.

    Alex Izinyon (SAN) appeared for Senator Adeleke, while Nathaniel Oke (SAN) appeared for Sikiru Adeleke.

    The first three defendants, on whose behalf bail applications were filed and argued, were granted bail by Justice I. E. Ekwo.

    Ojo and Olutope, who were represented by Isaac Adeniyi on October 15 when the case earlier came up, were not represented by any lawyer yesterday. No bail applications were also filed for them.

    However, during the proceedings, Oke made an oral application for their bail, which the judge disallowed and insisted that a formal application be filed for them.

    Ruling, Justice Ekwo ordered the remand of Ojo and Olutope in prison pending the hearing of their bail application.

    For Senator Adeleke, the judge granted him bail on self- recognition and directed that he should endorse a bond to always be available for his trial.

    Justice Ekwo ordered that Senator Adeleke should deposit his passport with the registrar and must not travel out of the country without the permission of the court.

    For the two others, the court granted each bail at N2million with one surety, who must be a “responsible” citizen and an owner of landed property within the court’s jurisdiction.

    They are to deposit their passports with the court’s registry and are not to travel out of the country without the court’s permission.

    Dressed in a traditional attire (buba and sokoto), with his signature cap, Adeleke kept a calm disposition throughout the about 45 minutes proceedings.

    Shortly after the proceedings, the senator was seen making calls, while the other defendants made efforts to perfect the bail granted them.

    Unlike the show of solidarity exhibited by leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) when former Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose was recently taken to court, no prominent PDP member was in court yesterday.

    In the first count preferred against the defendants, the prosecution alleged that the five defendants “conspired to commit felony, to wit: examination malpractices, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 10 of the Examination Malpractices Act Cap E15 LFN 2004.”

    In count 2, the prosecution alleged that the three members of staff of the school acted in concert by aiding and abetting “the commission of examination malpractice by personation” when they allegedly “registered Senator Ademola Adeleke and Sikiru Adeleke”, knowing or having “reasons to believe that they are not students of the school”.

    The alleged offence was said to be contrary to Section 9(1) of the Examination Malpractices Act Cap E15 LFN 2004.

    In count three, the two Adelekes were accused of acting in concert, and “personated as students of Ojo-Aro Community Grammar School when you fraudulently registered as students of the school in the June/July, 2017 NECO”.

    The offence is said to be contrary to Section 3(2) of the Examination Malpractices Act Cap E15 LFN 2004.

    The fourth count accused the three members of staff of the school of “acting in concert” and while “saddled with the responsibilities of registering students of your school in the June/July 2017 NECO examination, breached that duty by registering Senator Ademola Adeleke and Sikiru Adeleke as students of your school in the June/July 2017 NECO examination when you know or had reasons to believe that they are not students of the school”.

    The fourth count was said to be contrary to Section 10(a) and punishable under Section 3(2) of the Examination Malpractices Act Cap E15 LFN 2004.

  • Parents’ collusion in exam malpractices worries JAMB

    THE collusion of parents in examination malpractices remained a major challenge to the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), its registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, said yesterday.

    Oloyede spoke when members of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), led by its chairman, Prof. Itse Sagay, visited the JAMB headquarters in Abuja.

    According to him, most parents have gone haywire in their various activities of making sure their children pass the examination at all cost.

    The registrar expressed his displeasure on how parents also paid huge amount of money into fraudulent account to pass their wards.

    He said the Act establishing the board stipulated that parents are not allowed into the examination hall but they (parents) arrange with mercenaries to write the examination for the kids.

    The registrar said: “A candidate was caught here for impersonation. He agreed he did it and that he was writing for his brother and their mother was aware. When a call was pulled through to the mother, she said she is a prophetess. This is an example, among others.

    “The board will open an account too and any candidates who pay into the account for fraudulent activities will be disqualified from writing the examination.”

    He said no fewer than 1,178,665 candidates scored 100 marks and above in the March 9 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination.

    He said of the 1,840,225 candidates, who wrote the examination, only 800,000 had the five credits ordinary level (O’ level) minimum requirements.

    He said: “There are 767 tertiary higher institutions in Nigeria and about 560,168 candidates have been admitted. About 20 per cent of the candidates are in SS2, they only took JAMB for trials.”

    Prof. Sagay said there was need for the board to provide a template in advising other agencies on how to combat corruption and fraudulent activities.

    “We are here to learn from you, especially on how you have been able to maintain the credibility of the board and discover fraudulent acts,” he said.

     

  • Three UTME candidates arrested for ‘exam malpractices’

    The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Ondo State Command, has arrested three students for alleged examination malpractices during the ongoing Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

    The Commandant, Mr. Pedro Awili, told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Akure that the suspects were nabbed at Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo and Oyemekun Grammar School, Akure.

    He said only NSCDC was given the mandate to deploy officers and men across the country to monitor and supervise UTME Computer Based Test (CBT).

    ”Despite the command’s effort to educate students and warn them to shun examination malpractices, some who cannot write exams without cheating were arrested.

    “During this UTME, the command has arrested three suspects – one female and two males. They are in our detection.

    “Those caught will be prosecuted. This will act as a deterrent to others,” Awili said.

  • ‘Electoral offences tribunal ‘ll curtail malpractices’

    ‘Electoral offences tribunal ‘ll curtail malpractices’

    Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu spoke with reporters in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), on uncollected Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs), voter apathy, electoral violence and how to curtail the growing problem of financial inducement of voters. Excerpts: 

    What are the prospects for a free, fair and credible election under your administration of INEC?
    I think it is very bright. We thought that we had opened a new page after the Edo and most especially Ondo elections, but Rivers did not turn out quiet that good. I want you to note something; the most difficult elections for INEC to conduct are off-season or stand alone elections. Reason? The political actors are trying to mobilise everybody, nationwide to focus on a particular place; the kind of things you do not see in a general election. So, frankly speaking, general elections are easier to conduct. If we are organizing an election in one state, you would see so many governors going there to campaign for their party. It is their democratic right to so do, but who would do so in a general election? Everybody is fighting for his own in his own state. So, these stand alone elections are often very difficult for us; even, media attention is focused on a particular state or a particular constituency, whereas in a general election where you have thousands of participants the situation is different.
    I think related to that question are the kind of things we see in smaller elections. We are equally worried about low voter turn out. We had a bye-election in Ifako/Ijaiye federal constituency in Lagos State. It is a federal constituency in the middle of Lagos. In one local government, the voter turnout was 2.9 percent, less than three percent, but when you deploy for the elections, you mobilize for a total number of registered voters, which was over 330, 000, but just a little over 10, 000 people voted. But, this is the pattern for bye-elections worldwide, they are always not as keenly-contested as the general elections. The problems sometimes with off-season elections is that actors who are not even candidates in the elections (as it happened in Rivers) were not heard. How many of you heard from the candidates who canvassed for votes in the Rivers elections? It was the patrons that were speaking. So, that is another issue.
    The perception among some Nigerians is that you are being influenced by the president…
    For those who know me, with my antecedents in the places I have worked, it is too late to be intimidated by anybody. I cannot. For what purpose? To achieve what at this stage? Nothing! There is nothing I am looking for that God has not given me. I completed my PhD from Oxford at 29 and my father was a headmaster. So what does anybody want to give me now? The only job I prayed God to give me was to be a university lecturer and I am now a professor. Another thing I do is bonus. I do not think that there is anybody who can influence me. I headed the biggest funding agency in this country and at the end of it, I went back to my teaching profession in the university. Directly or indirectly, I have not been approached by anybody to do anything entirely other than what is in the law. The best marker is to do an analysis of all the elections we have conducted and tell me which party won what and then you can see our neutrality or otherwise. Look at Rivers, look at the statistics. People criticising do not look at election figures; in fact the party of the person criticising us won 70 percent of the elections and it’s an opposition party, yet they would say we are biased. When a politician wins an election, he would say the best thing to have happened to this country is INEC and when he loses, he would say the worst thing to have happened to this country is INEC and I will give you my favourite example, but I won’t tell you the state; we conducted governorship election in one of the states and on election day, one of the leading political actors went to vote, and unfortunately, the card reader could not take the man’s biometrics. He turned to the television cameras and abused the chairman of the commission and his management; that they told us that these machines would not work and that we keep giving the impression that we are a nation of scammers. Well, we conducted elections and he won; we went to present the Certificate of Return at our. state office a week later as required by law and the same person turned around to say the best thing to have happened to our elections was the card readers and that whatever the imperfections were, he would work with INEC to improve it. Very seriously, this is the way we conduct our debate in extreme terms. It is either one is extremely good or extremely bad, there are no middle grounds.
    There is no influence on INEC. There will never be any influence on INEC. The best marker for INEC’s neutrality are the elections we have conducted and the outcome of those elections. I know that we have conducted some elections that were not conclusive under the law, hence the issue of inconclusive elections. The law is very clear. There are conditions under which we can suspend elections. Violence or natural disasters. The second one is where there is over-voting, INEC is empowered under the law to suspend the process and conduct the election at another time. So, we apply the provisions of the law where we feel that we cannot in good conscience declare the outcome of the elections. Remember, after the 2015 general elections, 80 elections were nullified by the courts; 23 elections were upturned and INEC was ordered by the courts to issue certificates of return to the right winners, making a total of 103 elections from the 2015 general elections. So far, we have conducted 163 elections and I am happy to say that only one has been nullified by the courts. So, be looking at the figures, be looking at the statistics, because these are the markers of what we are doing in the interest of our democracy.
    What about the allegation that a candidate in the Rivers rerun relocated a whole polling unit to his house?
    We heard about it and it. Is also going to be part of that comprehensive investigation. If polling units were located outside of where they should be, that is clear illegality and if our investigations show that truly, polling units were located outside of where they were supposed to be, be assured that those responsible would be prosecuted. But help us also and bring forward evidences that would help us.
    Don’t you think that deploying more technology in our elections could help solve some of these challenges?
    Let us not think that a piece of technology alone can solve our problems. Elections are ultimately conducted by human beings. Germany, one of the most technologically-advanced countries in the world, conducts elections. There is nothing to do with technology whatsoever. There is no majority in the German election and I had the opportunity of discussing this matter with the returning officer for the state of Berlin, the equivalent of the chairman of SIEC (State Independent Electoral Commissions) in Nigeria and I discussed the matter with my colleague, the federal returning officer, the equivalent of the chairman of INEC and they laughed and said Germans don’t trust technology with their elections. But what makes the difference is the level of trust the people have in the system. Some of the worst violators of our laws are among those who accuse us of bias. You can deploy technology, but technology cannot solve all the problems. We have to solve our own problems
    Some of the national commissioners here went to Benin Republic in February and March; they had their presidential election. What we call ‘sensitive materials’ for which we deploy helicopters and gun boats and even armoured personnel carriers in Nigeria to protect, were the same materials that were given to a presiding officer in a polling unit and they put everything in a box, into the ballot box and then the presiding officer would stop a motorcycle and carry the materials to the polling unit unaccompanied by any security personnel.
    At the end of the elections, it was the party agents that calculated the votes, completed the result sheets, put them in a box and they stopped a motorcycle to take it to the collation centre unaided by any security. Why is our own experience different?
    We can introduce technology, but technology cannot be all, But, that is not to say that there is no place for technology in elections. There is a place for technology and I want to assure you that, as part of the new initiatives, what we considered only just yesterday in our weekly commission meeting was this idea of introducing e-collation and e-transmission of results. Already, we have a pilot scheme. When we conducted state-wide elections, the results were uploaded. Each time such elections are conducted I observe the results in our situation Room and we follow the results from every polling unit, but you know INEC does not declare any result in Abuja, only the presidential election. So, we have reached a point where we are prepared to deploy (the technology) and I am very happy to say that the senate in amending the electoral act is also going to empower the commission to introduce e-collation and e-transmission. If you noticed, much of the violence in recent elections do not take place in the polling units; it is in the course of transmitting the results. Now, once we introduce electronics to the transmission of results, we then have to take other measures to protect the polling units because violence will now turn to the polling units.
    What can be done to reduce the financial inducement of voters?
    Financial inducement of voters is an offence. It is a crime, but of late, something is happening. Sometimes, we do realise that before our own eyes, our country is changing. Our elections are getting better; parties have become strong and our votes are increasingly counting. Gone were the days when politicians would use a lot of money before the elections and in all the recent elections, some politicians that spent money saw that the outcome was not what they expected. So, the next thing they are doing now is what we may call ‘pay as you go.’ Some unscrupulous persons would go close to the voting cubicle as agents of parties and discuss with prospective voters to vote for their parties. The agents have to be sure you vote for their party before you are paid. Somebody stands in another corner, after you vote, they would say see him in a corner, but it is even instructive that they would ask the voter to show them their ballot paper before they are paid because they no longer trust their money alone to do the job for them. Those who want to subvert the process are those who resort to these desperate extreme measures, but it is an offence and the solution is the enforcement of our laws and to also implement some of the recommendations of previous panels like this electoral offences commission. We should not think that the agencies in the country are too much.
    What are you doing about the high rate of uncollected Permanent Voter Cards PVCs?
    It is a big issue. I have been receiving monthly returns from the state offices, but sometimes there would be 400,000 PVCs uncollected in a state and the monthly return would show only 30 as having been collected. People don’t want to collect. It has to be tied to something, maybe, election is around the corner and they wish to vote, there is an incentive for them to do so. The Director of ICT was telling me that the issue of cards is always tied to something. You want to drive, you go for a driver’s licence, you want a bank account, you go for your BVN or you want to travel, then you go for your international passport. There is always a need; it has to be tied to something.

  • NANS fights exam malpractices

    NANS fights exam malpractices

    The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has organised a retreat in Gombe State to fight examination malpractices.

    University teachers attended the meeting which held at the Gombe State University (GSU).

    It was the first meeting of its kind in the history of NANS existence meant to expose the ills and dangers of examination malpractices, which to a great extent, accounts for the dwindling quality of school leavers, especially at the secondary and tertiary levels.

    Presenting the paper he titled ‘The Effects of Examination Malpractices on National Development’, Dr. Abubakar Musa, Deputy Vice Chancellor, Academics from Kano State University of Science and Technology, Wudil said: “The frequency of occurrence of examination malpractice indicates a state of hopelessness and helplessness for the nation because of the huge increasing number of people and institutions involved in the social malaise; and the penalty hitherto meted out to perpetrators does not seem to deter others from committing the same act any more”.

    His main worry  here is not only the resultant loss of confidence in the certificates awarded by some institutions and some examination bodies in Nigeria, but the crisis situation that is bound to develop in the educational sector if the trend is not prevented.

    More so, is some of consequences of examination malpractices on national development like loss of international credibility; failure in the fight against corruption; low work productivity and poor job performance; bribery and corruption; vast supply of non-credible human resource and embarrassing dismal termination and loss of position.

    He further identified decreased validity and reliability of measurement process (examination); production of half-baked graduates; lowering of academic standard; and lack of confidence the country’s educational system as some of the adverse negative effects of the anomaly.

    Professor Musa said other adverse effects include breeding of a generation of fraudsters and other social vices; discouragement of students from hard work; certificate racketeering; and high dropout rates from our institutions of learning, urging the authorities and relevant stakeholders to be resolute in the efforts to stem the tide.

    Vice Chancellor of Gombe State University and Chief host of the discourse, Professor Ibrahim Musa Umar corroborated his guest’s view on high rate of prevalence said it is common phenomenon the country’s academia faces always as any examination hardly goes by without incidence(s) of malpractice or misconduct.

    He admonished students to always toe the path of hard work and excellence because the malpractice process slows defaulters down if caught; that is if at all they ever get out of the university.

    He warned that: “No university manager wants to have his students expelled but unfortunately we have to in order to sanitise to the system. Also, if caught, you could go to jail because there is a law guiding it.”

    On ‘The Role of Students in Security’, a paper presented in proxy by Gombe state Commissioner of police, Mr Austin Iwar, security and safety is said to begins with our ability to contribute meaningfully, hence students should strive to be disciplined at all times by way of meriting and being able to defend the results they graduate with.

    He told students to as much as possible concentrate more on acquiring education which is described as the greatest and most efficient instrument to improving moral values, discipline and responsibility.

    He also advised on the need for students to be mindful of the type of friends they make and keep given the countless cases of people with good and sincere mindset that have end up becoming cheats under the influence of friends.

    Therefore students insist the Police Commissioner must endeavour to abide by school rules at all times; just as it behoves them to be careful and patriotic in applying the knowledge they acquire pointing at preparation of improvised explosive devices for insurgents use and growing into fraudsters as examples of perverted use of knowledge.

     

  • Patients can sue for malpractices, says lawyer

    Patients can sue negligent doctors and demand damages for  malpractices, the Head of Legal Department, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Mr Sesan Olajide, has said.

    Patients, he said, have the right to sue and get justice when their rights are trampled upon.

    Olajide spoke at a seminar organised by the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital in Yaba, Lagos Mainland, and Scell Media Resources. The theme was Medical law and ethics, as it affects mental health.

    Olajide, the guest lecturer, said patients were becoming aware of their rights.

    ‘’This is why the rates of petitions are getting higher,’’ he added.

    Moreover, medical litigation in Nigeria is also increasing and courts are awarding monetary damages to claimants.

    “Many cases are settled out of court through payment of compensation to patients or their relations. These are attributed to several factors,” he said.

    He said litigation does even worse damage to the reputation of the institutions or caregivers when the issues are tried in the court of public opinion through the regular and social media.

    “The reality is that many health care-givers are not familiar with the medical law and ethics of practice of their respective professions, yet in terms of responsibility, ignorance of the law is not an excuse,” he said.

    He took participants through the governing laws of their professions and the roles of the professional regulatory bodies, especially  professional discipline. Patient’s rights, responsibilities and the rights of health care personnel were also discussed.

    For him, Nigeria lacks adequate laws to regulate patient care and even hospitals do not have policies and protocols on many significant matters.

    Mental health, he said, fared worse because “The Extant law in Nigeria was still the Lunacy Act of 1958, a colonial legacy that is to all intents and purposes archaic and incapable of meeting the challenges of and developments in mental healthcare today”.

    Quoting the World Health Organisation (WHO), he said, about 20 percent Nigerians are suffering from one form of mental illness or another, adding that mental health constitutes about 14 percent of the world disease burden. This, he said, underscores the need for the Eighth National Assembly to consider the proposed Mental Health Bill, which was introduced to the Assembly in 2003 and re-introduced in 2013.

    According to him, globally, mental health care has shifted tremendously towards the protection of the human rights of the patients, such as right to freedom from inhuman and degrading treatment and strict regulation of voluntary, emergency and involuntary admission for treatment.

    Olajide took participants through ethical/legal issues in patient care, such as confidentiality, privacy and informed consent.

    Others are charting, assault, elopement, suicide, blood transfusion, patient leaving against medical advice, HIV, test result mix-up, use of restraints/fall, clinical trials/experimental treatment and liability of healthcare institutions and caregivers for negligence.

    The hospital’s Acting Medical Director, Dr Richard Adebayo, said the hospital considers training and retraining of its staff a priority so that they could give patients the best service possible.

    He said the event, which is the second in the series, was aimed at enhancing their understanding of the law and ethics binding healthcare givers in the discharge of their duties.

    At the end, the participants expressed gratitude to the management of the hospital for organising the seminar which they found very educative, enlightening and informative, urging that it should be a continuous for the benefit of all staff.

    Solagberu resumes as LASUCOM Provost

     

  • JAMB: no malpractices so far in Ekiti

    The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has said so far, no candidate has been caught for examination malpractices during the 2015/2016 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) in Ekiti State.

    The state’s JAMB Coordinator, Aliyu Jubril, said candidates have cooperated with the officials of the board since the examination commenced on Saturday, a move he said has enhanced the credibility of the examination.

    Jubril also said adequate facilities as well as security have been provided at the eight centres where the examination is holding.

    Some candidates told our reporter at the Federal Polytechnic, Ado Ekiti, that they were satisfied with the conduct of the exam.

    One of them, Sola Alabi, said the computer-based test has helped eliminate exam malpractice.

    Meanwhile Daleaware Institute of Technology, a centre in Palmgrove, Lagos, has debunked news on the social media that the centre barred Muslims wearing hijab from taking the examination.

    On Monday, there were reports that female Muslim candidates were told to remove their Hijab before being allowed into the centre.  There was a claim that a notice was placed at the centre that stated that hijabs were not allowed.

    A sibling of one of the girls alleged to have been affected, Olawale Bashua, said he put pressure on the centre to rescind the decision.

    “When I got to the scene, I learnt those who agreed to remove their hijab had gained entry into the hall.  I had earlier instructed my sister not to remove her hijab until I came around. I demanded to speak with the Jamb official; he told me that the matter was with the centre.

    “They later told me they would allow my sister to write her paper on personal and compassionate ground. I told them that I was not there for my sister alone but for all sisters in hijab. Later, another brother joined me. He went to the University of Lagos (UNILAG) to mobilise brothers and sisters to the centre. People were calling from different parts of the country. The management of the centre realised they may not be able to sustain the heat. They quickly rescinded their decision. We asked them to remove the message at their entrance which forbade the use of hijab. They swiftly complied,” he said.

    However, the institute debunked the claims. Its Coordinator, Mr Segun Babalola, said a disagreement ensued when a Muslim candidate declined being frisked by officials of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC).

    Babalola said: “There was nobody denied (from writing UTME). We have pictures of candidates who with their hijab wrote their examination on Monday and even on Saturday. This issue came up because of a Muslim girl who refused to subject herself to the security details. The Civil Defence officers were the ones who barred her from entering and not the management of this institute. She later allowed herself to be checked, after which she was allowed to enter and write the examination.”

    Babalola said it was the first time the centre would be accused of religious discrimination.

    “It is a fallacy as well as wrong allegation. We have evidence which you can see for yourself,” he said when The Nation visited the centre on Tuesday.

    He added: “This is JAMB examination. We have the Civil Defence Corps by the gate. They are the ones doing the checking. They are the ones who have the rights to admit or disallow anybody from coming in.”

    A female Muslim candidate, Ruquyat Munir, said she was not asked to remove her hijab.

    “I was not stopped from entering.  I was neither asked to remove my Hijab nor harassed in any way,” she said.

    Another candidate, Biliki Muhammed, said: “I was checked like the others. I was not harassed. I was taken to a corner where a female NSCDC official checked my scarf if I was hiding anything there. Thereafter, I was allowed to put it on and proceeded to write my examination.”

    JAMB’s Head of Media and Information, Dr Fabian Benjamin, said the board is not against any candidate wearing hijab or head scarfs during the examination, which ends on March 12, 2016.

    However, he said those with scarfs should submit themselves to security checks before accessing the UTME halls.

    “We are not against any one dressing in the manner that suits them, particularly if it has to do with one’s religious belief.

    “In every examination however, there are rules and candidates must strive to adhere to such rules.

    “We are not going to stop anyone from taking the examination but the rule remains that if one is wearing things such as scarfs and hijab, you must submit to security checks at such centre.

    “It is just a simple rule and candidates should trying and cooperate with the examiners to make it easy for us all,” he said.

     

  • Tackling examination malpractices

    SIR: Examination malpractice can simply be referred to as a deliberate misconduct or improper practice or motive, before, during or after examinations with the aim of attaining good grades through dubious means.

    According to studies, parents, guardians, teachers, proprietors and proprietresses of private schools, external examiners, in the case of external examinations such as WAEC, GCE, JAMB etc have been identified as agents of examination malpractices.

    Some parents and guardians pay to purchase examination questions for their wards. Others prefer to bribe examiners or invigilators to aid or facilitate the chances of their wards during examinations.

    If credence is to be given to certificates from Nigerian schools, colleges, universities, etc; and if the products are to be given the much-desired respect in the international labour market, there is a great need for radical steps to be taken by stakeholders in the education sector, and the society in general, to eradicate the crises of examination misconducts currently pervading the Nigerian education set up.

    In view of the role of parents, guardians, teachers and school owners as the main custodians of students, there is an urgent need to carry out pragmatic counseling interventions on these groups of stakeholders in order to avert imminent disaster in the education sector. Perhaps, more importantly, governments at all levels need to give education the attention it really deserves. In doing this, there is a need for government and other stake holders in the sector to device and embrace new ideas that could bring about the much needed reforms that will give birth to the entrenchment of an education system that enhances character and learning, devoid of examination malpractices and other such negativities.

    Ethics and integrity are core aspects of the teaching profession. It is, therefore, important for teachers at all levels of the educational ladder to, as a matter of necessity, make  integrity, probity and honesty their watchwords. It is disgraceful and, indeed, degrading for any teacher to get involved in collaborating with parents and students to compromise examination process. Any society that encourages such is already moving on the brink of self-destruct. The teaching profession, all over the world, thrive on discipline and morality and ours must not be an exception. Hence, teachers in the country must brace up to update their professional competence from time to time.

    • Olalekan Olagunju

    Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja

     

     

  • e-exam’ll curb malpractices, says provost

    The provost, Adeyemi College of Education in Ondo Town, Ondo state, Prof. Adeyemi Idowu has said the newly introduced Computer-Based Examination by Joint Admissions Matriculation Board (JAMB) will curb examination malpractices in the country.

    The Provost noted that the e-exam would only guarantee admissions for the brilliant candidates who would be ready to impact their knowledge on the society.

    Speaking at the Technical Committee Meeting organised by JAMB and at the institution, Idowu noted that the system, which would start by 2015, would also help improve the reading culture of students.

    He said: “Candidates are expected to read and study hard for them to succeed in their quest for admission. Also, our penchant for short cuts has made examination malpractices seem like a second skin. It is worthy of note that in recent years, the management of JAMB has evolved measure to stem this ugly tide.

    “I am aware that some centres were blacklisted across the country due to this menace. The recent introduction of computer based examination is one giant stride which I believe, as time goes on, will drastically reduce the spate of examination malpractices.

    “While the battle against this menace has not been totally won, it is hope that the implementation of the five years hail term recently pronouncement for offenders will strongly deter our youth from indulging in this vice.”

     

     

     

    The Registrar/Chief Executive of JAMB, Prof. Dibu Ojerinde urged all sundry to exhibit unflinching commitment in whatever they do for overall improvements and development of Education in the country.

    He noted that it is through education that future development of Nigerian Child in terms of human capital development could be achieved.

    The State commissioner for Education, Mr. Jide Olujuyigbe assured that all secondary students in the state will be computer literates before 2015 in order to meet with the JAMB newly introduced examination system.