CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1. 1    BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Education is an essential process that prepares young individuals to live productive lives based on their abilities and interests. Learners are not only educated, instructed, and sufficiently directed to gain important skills and information through education, but they are also taught how to adapt to acceptable public life. According to Akaranga and Ongong (2013), education is a method of overcoming disadvantages, establishing more equality, and obtaining money and prestige for everybody. The early years of schooling are devoted to the development of fundamental interpersonal communication and reading skills. Later in life, education focuses on acquiring the information and skills required to generate value and earn a living.

Importantly, schools must use examinations as a benchmark for evaluation. This is due to the fact that the western knowledge acquisition system, or formal education, is based on certificates. However, a certificate is not a complete proof of knowledge retention. Before receiving a certificate, students must be tested or examined in the field in which they have been trained. According to Nnam and Inah (2015), examination is a yardstick against which students' or candidates' competence and development in the education sector are formally assessed and judged. According to Emaikwu (2012), examination as part of educational assessment is used to determine a learner's degree of skill acquisition or intellectual competence and knowledge following a particular instruction. It is the most practical method of evaluation in education. According to Maduka (1993), examination is a method of determining how much of a subject matter in a certain field of study a candidate has learned. Hornby (1995) defined examination as a formal assessment of someone's knowledge or skill in a certain area, often via answering questions or performing practical exercises (P.58) Balogun (1999) described it as the process by which pupils are assessed or tested to determine the quality of information they have gained during a specific length of time. Internal or external examinations may be conducted; they may be oral, written, or both.

Examination misconduct is defined as any wrongdoing committed before to, during, or after an examination. Although it is impossible to rule out examination malpractice in the past, the current trend is concerning and necessitates proper management in order to rid the school system of its consequences. Previously, students would conceal their behaviors, but today they promote them with positive blattemly. Examining misconduct (EM) is now a common occurrence in the educational system, as well as in society as a whole. In fact, it is appropriately referred to as "the great monster" in the Nigerian educational system. EM has caught up with all stakeholders in Nigerian children's education. The threat is a source of concern for all stakeholders, as well as adherents of moral and ethical uprightness, as the modern biographer reveals with the zeal of a showman.

1.2     STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

For the past two decades, developing Nigerians have seen a decline in educational progress. Many arguments have been advanced to explain the prevalence of examination misconduct. Fear of failure, craze for certificate, desire of parents to have their children in choice professions and universities, pressure on students to pursue courses for which they have no aptitude, pressure on teachers who want to gain the favor of students, and overcrowded seating arrangement are among the causes identified by Petters and Okon (2013). According to George and Ukpong (2013), the rising occurrence of examination misconduct is due to poor teaching, inefficient student preparation, inadequate library facilities, and a questionable admittance procedure.

In a culture where test malpractice is prevalent, the impact may be observed in the sort of human resources created by the educational system. Again, the educational system seeks to instill high levels of discipline, diligence, and moral love for others; to the receivers when the test is riddled with malpractice, all of the vital feedback mechanisms get defaulted, and the educational system becomes perverted (The CWO Voice, 2010). On the other side, examination malpractice and cultism have had a negative impact on the progress of the Nigerian education system, which has an inverse link with the Nigerian economy. Other consequences of examination misconduct include students being discouraged from working hard, low productivity and bad job performance, bribery, corruption, and credential racketeering. Examination misconduct, with its drawbacks, has a severe impact on many aspects of society. Individuals, governments, and other stakeholders in the education system must work together to eliminate this malpractice before the nation's social, economic, and technical potentials may be achieved. Upon this premise that this study seeks to review the impact of examination malpractice  on Nigerian education system..

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The broad objectives of the study is to review the  impact of examination malpractice  on Nigerian education system.. Specifically, the study seeks:

i.          To examine the level of examination malpractice prevalent in tertiary institutions.

ii.        To ascertain factors promoting high occurrence of  examination misconduct  in higher institutions.

iii.      To investigate the effect examination malpractice on Nigeria education system and national development.

iv.      To proffer significant recommendation on ways examination misconduct can be curbed in higher institutions.

1.4  RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The research questions for this study are started below:

i.          What is the level of examination malpractice prevalent in tertiary institutions?

ii.        What are the factors promoting high occurrence of  examination misconduct  in tertiary institutions?

iii.      What are the effect examination malpractice on Nigeria education system and national development?

iv.      What are the  ways examination misconduct can be curbed in tertiary institutions?

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