In the ongoing 2023 May/June Senior Secondary Certificate Examination, 56 rogue side operators and about 15 other people, have been apprehended for their involvement in examination malpractice. According to Patrick Areghan, Head of National Office, Nigeria (HNO), of West Africa Examination Council (WAEC), they included students, school owners, and teachers.
The arrests were made in Maiduguri, Ibadan, Abeokuta, and Umuahia, according to Areghan, who made this statement Thursday while inspecting schools in Abuja. He added that suspects would be given to the police and would be paraded on national television.
He stated that although 1,621,895 individuals had registered for the exam, not all of them might have shown up.
The supervisors, according to the WAEC boss, are the main cause of the council’s problems because they were heavily involved in exam fraud and made significant sums of money from students and parents.
While adding that the Ministry of Education had provided the supervisors as trusted help, he claimed that with just 2000 staff members at WAEC, they were unable to mark all of the exams, necessitating the involvement of supervisors.
He claimed that the inspection was crucial because kids took a crucial exam in mathematics on Thursday.
He said, “We are not interested in failing students but interested in seeing them pass but the only thing is we cannot help them to pass, we only encourage them by telling them what to and not to do. We are talking to them to make sure they don’t involve in examination malpractice. “We have arrested students. In Ibadan, we arrested a supervisor, candidates and other groups. In Maiduguri, supervisors and candidates were arrested, while in Abeokuta a school proprietor who started it (examination malpractice) from the beginning of the examination was arrested along with others. In Osogbo, a candidate and supervisor and so many others in Umuahia too who are involved in the illegal act were arrested. “We have gone further by identifying and arresting the rogue operators involved in malpractice, unlike last year.”
Meanwhile, he cautioned the participants against using expo during exams, claiming they were bogus.
“Avoid copying what your partner is writing because nothing will prevent you from doing so. We want you to pass, but if you rely on cheating, that indicates you failed,” he stated.
The head of WAEC urged parents and applicants to stop hunting for an expo.
Additionally, he stated that it is impossible for any WAEC officials to be involved in the process, and anyone found to be so will unquestionably be expelled from the system.
The Director of Senior Secondary Education, Hajia Binta Abdulkadir, expressed her sadness over the principals’ complicity in examination fraud, which she referred to as the root of all Nigerian educational issues.
She acknowledged her satisfaction with WAEC’s use of a variety of technologies to address the issue.
Musa Zuru, the principal of Government Secondary School Kubwa, also praised the progress made by WAEC and invited additional schools to participate, noting that schools in the FCT have a zero-tolerance policy for test fraud.
