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Today, corruption in Nigeria permeates all sectors of the economy. The moral bankruptcy exists in every aspect of our national life, including education. Educational sector, which is the bedrock of the economy, is not spared by this ugly trend. All levels of our education system are quite involved in the nefarious practice. Corruption in the sector encompasses different dimensions and examination malpractice is an offshoot.

Examination malpractice has been an integral part of our school system these days. The misconduct has gained prominence because it is now the order of the day in various primary, secondary and tertiary Institutions of learning. Examination malpractice as an intentional ‘foul play’, which positions a candidate at an unfair advantage contrary to official examination rules has become a topical and critical issue in Nigeria.

The recognition of the problem, as the fraudulent means of achieving success in an examination, has signaled that the situation is inimical to educational and socio-economic development as well as good international reputation of the nation. The menace makes the evaluation of learning difficult and unreliable and certificates based on falsehood. Currently, examination misconduct is an essential problem that is multifarious in form and wide in scope.

Some commonly identifiable techniques or strategies utilised by students include the wound, satellite, missiles, coffin, unmanned rocket, expo, pandemonium, learning to count, giraffing, discussion, ECOMOG or ECOWAS, toilet syndicate among others. Definitions of the above examination malpractice forms will not be given, because emphasis is not laid on the terms in this article.

A host of factors have been advanced for examination malpractice in Nigeria. Inadequate examination environment, inadequate punishment for examination malpractice, materialism, shortage of manpower (teachers), inability of teachers to cover their scheme of work, precedence and antecedence (guilty cheats among teachers), false impression (on the part of students), overemphasis on certificates and examination, poor funding of education, educational deprivation of some students and so on are few variables responsible for examination misconduct.

However, this piece focuses on recruitment as a process. Recruitment is a catalogue of activities orchestrated to obtain an adequate number of the right individuals at the right time from the right places. The entire process kicks off with job specification, followed by qualified candidates being asked to apply for the available positions. At this juncture, the recruitment authority devises parameters for selection, which enable them to sort out best qualified persons. The essence of recruitment is for an organisation to appoint the best applicants with the right ability, temperature, skills and willingness.

A good recruitment process definitely enhances productive, progressive and pragmatic performance in any organisation. In Nigeria, both Federal and State Civil Service systems stress uniformity, standardisation and transparency in recruiting applicants. In spite of efforts at achieving all these, our recruitment systems are characterised by lack of transparency and equity; therefore, making it difficult to engage best hands for available jobs. A situation, where jobs advertised were already shared as slots among ‘people-that-matter’ or taken up by political beneficiaries or highest bidders who were never taken through any interview process, is a clog in the wheel of the nation. Influencing the outcome of interview hampers the success of the process as well.

Therefore, the negative effect of wrong selection of applicants into public offices is undoubtedly huge. Faulty recruitment into civil service workforce or other establishments has really retarded the progress of the country. The impact of the sloppiness on the education sector, especially our school system, has been indelibly felt and almost irreparable. The carefree recruitment process has been a motivating factor for examination malpractice in Nigeria’s schools today, since the perpetrators understand full well that certificates obtained are only meant for sheer documentation as an appointment process. It is believed that intellectual scrutiny in the process has been sidelined.

As long as the recruitment procedures remain status quo, examination malpractice will persist in our schools. Until the process is made flawless in the country, the menace is bound to advance. On this premise, it is solicited that stakeholders in the recruitment exercise across levels of government in Nigeria should imbibe the culture of appointments on merit, following the standard set by Oyo State Teaching Service Commission in 2020/2021 recruitment exercise. This will assist us a long way in arresting the menace. More so, engagement of qualified and competent teachers, education funding, building good value system, encouragement for students, adequate planning and organisation and effective coordination of examinations among others are preventive measures that could be adopted in addressing examination malpractice in Nigeria.

By Asiru Babatunde