The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, has revealed how examination questions were sometimes allegedly obtained for as little as N3,000 before the conduct of the National Examinations Council examinations, describing the level of examination malpractice in the country as “mind-boggling.”
Alausa made the revelation on Thursday at a meeting with the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools and other stakeholders in the education sector, where he warned parents, teachers, proprietors, principals, invigilators and students against practices capable of undermining the integrity of public examinations.
The minister said examination malpractice had for years been tolerated in Nigeria, creating an unfair system in which students who prepared genuinely for examinations were disadvantaged by those who gained access to leaked questions.
According to him, the situation was particularly dangerous because it could push honest students into malpractice as they sought to compete with candidates who had access to examination materials before the tests.
Alausa said, “It’s sad. Before she and I came, the acceptance of examination malpractice, cheating and examination leakages in this country was mind-boggling, and the country accepted it. It was a nightmare.
