Nigerian lecturer undergoing prosecution for exam malpractices ―JAMB Registrar

THE Registrar and Chief Executive of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, Professor Is-haq Oloyede, has disclosed that a lecturer (name withheld) from an undisclosed Federal University is currently undergoing prosecution in the law court for engaging in examination malpractices during the last 2017 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination conducted by the Board.

He has also announced the shifting of the proposed UTME Mock examination earlier scheduled for 22- 24 January, 2018 to the first of February, 2018, as a result of strike by the Non-Academic  Staff Union of Universities (NASU).

 

He explained that the strike made it impossible for the Board to carry out accreditation of the Computer Based Centres (CBT) in the affected institutions.

 

Oloyede, who spoke in Abuja at a meeting with critical stakeholders on Strategic Planning on Supervision and Evaluation of the conduct of 2018 meeting, however, affirmed that the UTME proper would hold from March 9 to 18, 2018.

 

He expressed concern about desperation of students to cheat in examinations, saying the Board was doing all it could to be ahead of the fraudsters, while those caught engaging in examination malpractices would be prosecuted.

 

While recalling one of the cases of examination malpractice during the conduct of the 2017 UTME, he said: “In addition to CBT centres organized and aided examination malpractices, there was incidence by candidates and even examination officials.

 

“In a particular case, a Proctor who was a lecturer in a Federal University was caught engaging in examination malpractice with candidates in the course of the examination he had been entrusted to supervise.

 

“The matter was documented and reported to both the University and security agencies. The Board is grateful to the University Management for the prompt disciplinary action in line with the University Rules and Regulations. He is also undergoing prosecution in court at the instance of the Board,” Oloyede said.  

 

He decried low registration of candidates for the 2018 UTME, saying February 6 had been scheduled for the closing of sale of registration form, and that as at the time of this report yesterday, only 283, 319 candidates have registered for the examination nationwide.

 

Oloyede said in view of criticisms that trailed the sale of entry for a month I the past years, the board decided to earmarked two months so that every willing candidate could be able to purchase, filled and submit the forms.

 

“We open entry from December 6, 2017  to February 6, 2018, but one month later, only less than a quarter of the two million candidates expected for the examination this year, have registered”, he said.

 

He said it had been envisaged that a heavy concentration in the purchase of the registration form, would be in the last one to closing date, stressing that in view of that, the mock examination   would be held in the first week of February across the country.

 

He further lamented that in the last year examination regime, candidates spent about N100 million for correction of errors caused by Computer Based Test (CBT) centres, stating that the Board had gone ahead to correct the situation in advantage to the candidates.

 

“This time around, candidates type their names by themselves and this would eliminates wrong spelling of names and other data and we are doing this so as  to deprive those, who are extorting from candidates”, Oloyede stated.

 

As stakeholders suggested the need for first aid medical facilities in examination halls, Oloyede warned that wristwatches, pen and pencil, other than required HB pencils, were prohibited in examination halls, starting from the coming examination.

 

Stating that even examination officers were affected by this new development, he said the board had gone the extra miles to uncover new ways of cheating in examinations and discovered that sophisticated wristwatches were parts of the gadgets.