WAEC worries over exam malpractice

The Registrar to the West African Examination Council (WAEC), Dr. Iyi Uwadiae, said examination malpractice has remained a major source of distraction for WAEC, lamenting that the scourge has persisted in member countries of the council.

Speaking at the just concluded 65th annual council meeting of WAEC in Abuja, Uwadiae said the council has continued to utilise every available means and opportunity to discourage “die-hard perpetrators of the malaise”.

He said appeals have also gone to stakeholders in education, particularly member governments, to partner WAEC more seriously in the fight against the cankerworm, which threatens the quality of academic attainment and manpower production in our sub-region.

“Misguided candidates ferociously seek short cuts to examination success while their depraved adult collaborators carry out their damnable acts for financial rewards,” he said.

He further said, “The consequences of examination malpractice on educational institutions, especially examining bodies, are grave and worrisome. Apart from the damage done to our image, credibility or reputation, we waste huge chunks of our meagre resources in the fight against the evil.”

He said existing legislations should be enforced or where necessary, new ones promulgated against examination fraud.

While calling on parents to desist from encouraging or sponsoring fraud for their wards, but to endeavour to make adequate provisions for them to benefit from the learning process, he urged school authorities and teachers’ associations to halt the era of impunity for their staff and members who engage in examination malpractice.