WAEC to prosecute centres, candidates involved in exam malpractice

West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has issued a warning against candidates and schools that engage in examination malpractice, saying they are liable to dire consequences, including prosecution. The Head, National Office of the council, Mr. Charles Eguridu, gave the warning yesterday in Abuja at a Road Show on Examination Malpractices sensitisation. Eguridu said Nigeria, having […]

West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has issued a warning against candidates and schools that engage in examination malpractice, saying they are liable to dire consequences, including prosecution.
The Head, National Office of the council, Mr. Charles Eguridu, gave the warning yesterday in Abuja at a Road Show on Examination Malpractices sensitisation.
Eguridu said Nigeria, having the highest number of candidates and irregularities among the five WAEC member countries, has introduced stricter measures and the use of advanced technology in its bid to curb the menace in the country.
He said: “When we discover candidates who are involved in examination malpractice, we have the power to withhold their results and carry out investigation. When we investigate and confirm that they were involved in any form of malpractice the results of that subject could be canceled, the entire results could be canceled and the centre can be de-recognised.”
Speaking on the technology, he explained that they have introduced a system that verifies candidates that registered for the exam which captured their biometric features, fingerprints and their facial features at the point of registration.
“These are uploaded into our database and on the day of the exam, these features are uploaded into a handheld devise at the centre and like the card reader does, we verify that it is the candidate that writes the exam,” he said.
Eguridu explained that WAEC is the only examination board that has introduced the use of the technology in the conduct of examinations in the whole of Africa. He pointed out that the sensitisation programme was organised to sensitise candidates about the consequences of examination malpractice.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Dr. MacJohn Nwaobiala, decried the increasing rate of examination malpractice in Nigeria saying, “in recent years, we have seen the multifarious manifestation of exam malpractices, from cheating in examination to contracting mercenaries to write exams, among others.”
He advised WAEC candidates to avoid situations that could implicate them in the examination hall, so that their future would not be jeopardised.