WAEC vows to publish names of candidates involved in exam malpractices

By Mariam Sanni Abuja

The Nigeria Examinations Committee of the West African Examinations Council has recommended that the names of candidates, schools, candidates, invigilators and supervisors caught aiding and abetting examination malpractice should be published to serve as a deterrent for others.
The committee, which is the highest decision-making organ of WAEC on examination-related matters in Nigeria, made the recommendation to WAEC, ANCOPSS and all the ministries of education in the 36 states of the federation, in a statement issued at the end of its 66th meeting in Lagos.
According to the statement, the committee had received reports on cases of irregularity, special and clemency arising from the conduct of the WASSCE for both private candidates and school candidates in 2017 and 2018 during the meeting.
In the course of considering the various reported cases of malpractice, the committee, after diligent deliberation, approved that the entire results of candidates involved in proven cases, which attract cancellation of entire results, be cancelled, while the subject results of those involved in proven cases be similarly cancelled.
Although the committee commended WAEC for ensuring that examination cheats did not get away with their nefarious activities by deploying cutting-edge technology and putting in place mechanisms aimed at checking examination malpractice.
It observed that the incidence is still on the increase and called on all stakeholders to intensify their efforts in the fight against the social evil.
The committee also decried the high rate of impersonation during public examinations for candidates in schools.
Describing impersonation as a form of examination malpractice, it called on school principals to check the ugly trend and the various ministries of education in the states to look at the calibre and integrity of teachers nominated as supervisors for public examinations.