How social media fuel examination malpractices in Nigeria

– Social media have kept the world going and
citizens of the world smarter, but just as they have
their advantages, they are a growing problem to the
education sector
– Across the world, issues of examination
malpractice have become of major concern and
stakeholders, including in Nigeria, have troubled
themselves in search of solutions
– Ethiopia and Algeria are two countries that have
banned the use of social media during
examinations, but Ethiopia says the ban is only
temporary
An average examination centre or hall in Nigeria is a
comedy arena. Every candidate comes into the hall
exuding confidence.
Nigerian students in an examination hall
Then the examination commences, question papers and
answer sheets distributed. And suddenly the real show
begins.
These supposed confident students reach for every
corner of their bodies and bags and armed with their
phones or other electronic devices, they pour out what
they never read.
Actually, while the candidates sat in the halls in
readiness to commence the exercise, some other
Nigerians, sometimes including even parents of some of
the candidates, were scattered outside preparing the
answers to the already leaked questions and sending
them in through the various social media.
Facebook, Twitter, Viber, Instagram and even dating
sites including Twoo, Eskimi and their likes have
become very useful in for the country’s students. All
that is needed is a proper knowledge of the usability of
the particular medium to be used. And the candidate
goes to sleep.
Here is the true story: some of the candidates are
successful and happy while others are mourning their
failure. While the circle goes on, students go further
into higher institutions becoming a general
embarrassment to the nation extremely poor
performances in examinations and academic works.
Such is the pathetic tale of the sliding fortune of
education now attracting lamentation from every part of
the country and among stakeholders.
Each year, examination-regulating bodies come up with
various strategies to beat examination malpractices, yet,
like the proverbial bird talked about in Chinua
Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, the candidates also come
up with ways to beat the examination handlers.
High-tech cheating with social media is not just the
exclusive preserve of Nigeria. The world has had cause
to look into the challenge.
A survey in a US news and world report published by
Caveon, shows that 80 percent of high school students
admit to cheating, 51 percent of high school students
did not believe cheating was wrong, 95 percent of
cheating high school students had not been detected.
As countries continue to search for ways to curb the
menace of examination malpractices, the Ethiopian
government has blocked the use of social media by
students especially during examinations. This is coming
just after a similar ban by the Algerian government in
an attempt to fight cheating students in secondary
schools.
The report from Algeria said almost half of students in
the country were forced to retake the baccalaureat exam
after an online leak that discredited the first session.
According to the report, many of the students accessed
questions on Facebook and other social media ahead of
the examination in early June.
In the case of Ethiopia, it decided to block Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram and Viber after a massive leak of
examination questions on social media. The government
says its action is to force students to study hard for
the academic exercise instead of to focus on rumour.
The social media remain banned all through the days
the examination into higher institutions would hold, the
spokesman for the Ministry of Education, Getachew
Reda, said in a country that has often gone harsh on
use of the media, according to the British Broadcasting
Corporation (BBC).
“The government here is very keen to control social
media. They will learn from this, next time there is a
protest they will use the experience to do another
nationwide clampdown,” an unnamed source told the
BBC.
Though the action is eliciting widespread condemnation
from citizens of the country, analysts think it is a
better way to curb the dangerous slide in academic
activities engaged in by those considered as leaders of
the future. Some also think the action of Algeria and
Ethiopia would just be an eye-opener for countries
including Nigeria where the Joint Admission and
Matriculation Board is almost at a fix as to how best
to conduct examinations without squabbles.