ISSN 0794-4543
JOURNAL OF CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION
VOLUME 6, NUMBERS 1 & 2, 2002
Published by
Department of Curriculum Studies and Educational Technology,
Faculty of Education,
University of llorin,
P.M.B. 1515,
llorin. Nigeria.
CONTENTS
Title Page..........................................................................…
Copyright Page.....................................................................
Notes for Contributors........................................... .. .........,.
Editorial Board................................................................…...
Editorial....................................................................,............
Contents............................................................................
i
ii
iii
v
vi
viii
Conducting Examinations in Nigerian Universities: A Manager's
Perspectives
N. Y. S. Ijaiya........................................................................
1
New Perspectives in Adult Education in Nigeria in the 21st Century
S. N. Osuji............................................................................
17
Mathematics Teachers' Perception of Students' Performance in
Mathematical Word Problems in Kwara State
M. F.Salman........................................................................
Integration of Instructional Video into Teacher Education
Programme Nigeria
I. O. Salawu & A. O. Afolabi...................................................…
Improving the Quality of Instruction in Nigerian Primary and
Secondary Schools through the Broadcasting Media
M. O. Yusuf................................................................
viii
29
41
47
Gender Difference in School Science: Implication for Science
Teacher Education
G. Bello .......................................................................
55 1
Integrated Units: A Blueprint to Improve Critical Thinking in Reading
Lesson at the Junior Secondary School (JSS).
S. O. Medahunsi.........................................................
65
Investigation Literacy Skills Possessed by Library Cataloguers in
Higher Institutions in Kwara State
J. O. Omoniyi........................................................................
75
Inter-relationships among Academic Performance, Academic,
Achievement and Learning Outcomes
A. Yusuf.................................................................
87
The NCCE Minimum Standards as a Sustainable Curriculum
Innovation
A. A. Olaoye...........................................................................
97
The Invaluable Roles of Computer in a Developing Country
S. A. Onasanya..................................................................
109
Analysis of Personnel Involvement in Sports Programmes in
Nigerian Universities
A. A. Adesoye.......................................................................
123
Ix
CONDUCTING EXAMINATIONS IN NIGERIAN
UNIVERSITIES: A MANAGER'S PERSPECTIVE
N. Y. S. IJAIYA
Abstract
The primary assignment of any school is to ensure effective teaching and
learning of which examination, a form of evaluation plays a significant role. In
spite of its importance especially in decision making about school programmes,
examination continues to receive less than its deserved attention especially in
Nigeria, even in universities that should lead by example. Hence, examination
malpractice is on the increase. Examination as part of teaching deserves to be
carefully planned, organised, co-ordinated and evaluated. When examination
malpractice occurs, it implies that some of its managers have shirked their
responsibilities. The study reported in this article using 25 and 220 lecturers and
students respectively of the Faculty of Education, University of llorin showed that
seating arrangement in the examination hall and the typing and duplicating
stages are the most possible stages of examination malpractice. Examinations
have been denied adequate and conducive accommodation, sufficient invigilators
and adequate security. The findings confirm that the poor management of
examinations can lead to examination malpractice. Therefore, it was
recommended that examination management can be improved through adequate
provision of essential facilities, more lecturers and demand for accountability.
Introduction
Managing any institution of learning involves planning, organising, coordinating, motivating, monitoring, evaluating, etc. the teaching and learning
activities to ensure the attainment of educational goals and objectives (Adesina,
1990). In other words, teaching and learning are the central foci of school
management. It is however through examination that pupils' learning is
ascertained. This is why teaching is fundamentally considered incomplete without
some form of evaluation. Examinations are therefore part and parcel of school
management functions. Conducting examinations is as old as the educational
system itself and continues to be popular without any credible alternative yet in
spite of its shortcomings and mismanagement (Aghenta,
Journal of Curriculum and Instruction, Vol. 6 Nos. 1 & 2, 2002; N. Y. S Ijaiya, pp. 1 16
Conducting Examinations in Nigerian University
1999). Evaluation is however a means to an end not an end in itself. It serves
several purposes particularly in decision making whether at the primary,
secondary or tertiary levels. At the end of a course of study, an examination has
to be administered to determine the extent of students' achievement without
which the term or semester or a session cannot close and the institution as well
as the students cannot progress Besides, examination serves many other
purposes. It provides data that are useful to the school proprietors and clientele,
that is, the government or the private owners, the students, parents and
teachers. It is used for certification of students and provides feedback to teachers
and parents on students' academic performance. It also largely determines job
placement for school products and manpower development (Gronlund, 1-985).
Examinations, like teaching, therefore deserve effective management. At the
university level, being at the top of the educational ladder, academic excellence
is highly sought and so examinations must not be toyed with. Universities are
expected to meet international standard, hence the need for reliable and credible
examination results. This can only be guaranteed through well-managed
examinations.
However, what is usually not fully appreciated by many institutions,
examination bodies as well as the public is the fact that conducting examinations
is largely a management task. If things go right or wrong during the
examinations, it is because those who are in charge, referred to in this paper as
examination managers, have either done the right thing or have left the right
thing undone. Even the most fraudulent students will not have his way if all
examination managers performed their-duties as expected, whereas such
students will exploit any loophole. Thus, School Plant Planning and Development
as well as Personnel Management play important role in conducting hitch-free
exams.
In view of the significance of examinations to the progress of students,
the institution, the nation and the world in general, the need for their effective
management cannot be over-emphasised. The fact that examination malpractice
has now become a permanent feature of our educational system (Adekale, 1993;
Olasheinde, 1993; and Ijaiya, 1998) calls for the needs to emphasise the role of
management in conducting hitch-free and fraud-free examinations. Also, the
levity with which some teachers and lecturers handle examinations justifies such
a re-emphasis. Some of them would teach actively for several months but when it
comes to examinations, they take the backseat, giving their questions to typist or
2
Conducting Examinations in Nigerian University
a messenger to produce several copies without adequate security. Some will not
even show up for invigilation while others, even principals, have been caught
aiding and abetting examination malpractice. How many principals have bothered
to prepare written rules and regulations for examinations in their schools? Where
such documents are available, as in the university, how many lecturers are
supplied with copies or how many of them have bothered to read them? Most
people assume that any teacher should know. However, not all those who teach
are trained teachers most especially in the universities. Besides, while some
examination rules are common and obvious, some are peculiar to specific
institutions (for instance, procedure for reporting and dealing with examination
malpractice).
Another indication that examinations are not receiving due attention in
most institutions in Nigeria is that the same facilities that have been overstretched and reported as inadequate and not conducive for teaching and
examinations are left unimproved by most school managers and made to be
used for decades even as students' enrolment continues to increase. The
importance of school plant to effective teaching and learning has been well
stressed in the literature (Olutola, 1989; Adeboyeje, 1994; Ogunsanju, 1990 and
Durosaro, 1998). It is however equally important for effective conduct of
examinations. Most school buildings are however in a state of disrepair apart
from their inadequate number and size and their poor maintenance (Adeboyeje,
1990). It is this kind of loopholes that fraudulent students exploit to cheat in
examinations. Sometimes, examinations are so rushed even with inadequate
facilities, that they lose their meaning. Happily the University Of Lagos recently
broke the ugly cycle by blazing the trail when it opened for use a multi-purpose
hall with a capacity for 5000 seats that would serve as lecture theatre and exam
hall apart from other uses. According Omotola (2000) "the project represents the
University administration's response to the increasing problem of examination
malpractice and unconducive atmosphere for writing, examinations" (p. 26). In
contrast is the situation at the Bayero University, Kano where students recently
issued a "three day ultimatum" to the University's authority "to provide adequate
furniture in lecture rooms or face a boycott of the first semester examinations.
"(the Herald, 2000, p. 66). Despite the importance of examinations and danger
posed by examination malpractice, it appears writers and researchers have given
little or no attention to the issue of managing examinations preferring to blame
3
Conducting Examinations in Nigerian University
students for everything that goes wrong. The purpose of this article therefore is
to:
1.
Explain examination as a management function;
2.
Identify and discuss the role of examination managers;
3.
Present the result of a recent survey on management dimension of
examination malpractice and;
4.
Make suggestions for effective management of examinations.
It is hoped that this paper will sensitise school managers and the teachers
(the examination managers) into giving examinations all the care and
seriousness they deserve but are so much lacking in many institutions.
Examination as a Management Function
As mentioned earlier, examinations like teaching, deserve careful
handling by those in charge. Like teaching also, it is quite amenable to most
elements of management namely: planning, organising, supervising, evaluating,
etc.
1)
Planning:Examinations, like teaching need to be planned. Planning
examinations should be part of the overall short and long range plan of schools
at all levels. Such plans involve a forecast of school activities for a term or a
semester and a session. Planning normally involves setting goals and objectives,
as well as identifying needs for effective teaching and learning for the projected
period by taking a look at the past and forecasting the future. It will specifically
include stipulating the number of weeks for teaching and examination, the date
the latter would begin and end, the subjects or courses to be taught, who teaches
what, and the type and dates for co-curricular activities which the particular
school would engage in. In most schools, examinations usually come up within
the last two weeks of the term or semester and the session. However, these
plans, like any other type of planning are simply projections into the future to be
implemented if all things go well. In our present educational situation, it is more
usual for things to go wrong and disrupt school plans than for the school plan to
proceed smoothly. Due to strike action by teachers or students' disturbances,
schools have been closed very often and plans have had to be re-arranged with
dates shifted. For instance, the University of llorin had to shift its recently held
second semester examination dates twice (2001) due to strikes by the academic
staff while the third one was only averted by making alternative arrangements for
4
Conducting Examinations in Nigerian University
typing of questions due to a strike by the staff.
Planning an examination does not end with just forecasting dates
activities. It is also necessary to identify and clarify before hand how many
students will be sitting for a particular course or subject, the halls or classrooms
to use and determine whether the space and furniture for sitting are adequate
and conducive for conducting a proper examination. If not, improvement must be
made or alternative places provided.
Planning will also include securing sufficient materials for production of
examination questions as well as answer scripts. Also, at least two weeks to the
examination, all draft questions must be submitted to the Head of Department (H.
O. D.) who should vet them and supervise the typing and production of enough
copies. There must be tight security for the paper at every stage particularly at
the typing, duplicating as well as the packaging stages. They must also be given
adequate security in the interval to the examination date. The practice of leaving
question papers in the care of non-teaching staff is wrong simply because
examinations are purely academic staff duties. They did the teaching and should
therefore be absolutely responsible for evaluating their own work without any
hitch. It is a role that they should guide jealously. Preparing the examination
timetable is also part of the planning process.
2)
Organising:- This involves assigning invigilators to various examination
halls in sufficient number and specifying the courses or subjects they will
invigilate as well as the time for invigilation. The number of students offering the
subjects or the course should guide the examination officer or the sub-Dean (in
the case of universities) in both room and invigilator allocation. All these would
be reflected on the timetable.
3)
Cco-ordinating:For smooth conduct of examinations, there must be
effective co-ordination especially to avoid clashes between two or more papers
running concurrently for the same set of students. Co-ordination will involve
creating a rallying point where all activities connected with the examinations are
centred. It will specifically co-ordinate the activities of invigilators, clear
confusions or problems, distribute questions to the invigilators, receive answer
scripts at the end of each paper and distribute them to the teachers concerned
for marking or to the H.O.D. An examination officer appointed by the H. O. D. or
a Sub-Dean may perform the function. Such a co-ordinator must go round the
examination halls to see that the examination is going on as planned or address
5
Conducting Examinations in Nigerian University
any problem reported to him
4)
Supervising (Invigilating):- Invigilating is the process of overseeing an
examination while in progress. It starts with the checking-in of students and ends
when answer scripts are collected from students and submitted securely to the
co-ordinator of the examination. It also involves seeing to it that the examination
proceeds smoothly in the hall and cheating by any means does not occur. This
stage is a sore point in the examination process. Examination malpractice takes
place mostly at this stage with students exploring all sorts of tactics including
'giraffing', passing papers around, impersonation, leaving papers open for others
to copy, etc. (Olasheinde. 1993) or even drugging their teachers to sleep during
invigilation (The Guardian, 2000). Invigilators have also been caught assisting
students while some are guilty of negligence of duties (e.g. reading newspapers
or novels, going out of the examination hall without a substitute, talking, etc.).
Invigilation demands a lot of vigilance and commitment. Vigilance in the
supervision of an exam involves:
a)
Checking carefully students' identity cards and examination cards to
ascertain that there is no impersonation;
b)
Checking thoroughly students' pockets and females' double wrappers to
ensure no extraneous paper is taken in to examination .hall:
c)
Ensuring that bags and file jacket, purses, textbooks, notes, etc. are not
taken inside.
d)
Ensuring that seating arrangement is done in a way that there is enough
space between one student and the other to prevent "giraffing" that is, peeping
into somebody else's paper. When students are giving the freedom to arrange
themselves, the fraudulent ones will exploit it to cheat. Ideally, each seat is to be
pre-numbered with student's exam or matriculation numbers so that each student
can simply occupy his own seat. Invigilators should move round the hall and not
to sit in one place throughout.
e)
Making sure that collection of answer scripts is done in an orderly manner
otherwise some students can still cheat at this stage:
It is important that vigilance is maintained throughout as fraudulent
students bid their time and wait for the best opportunity to carry out their plans.
Involving non-teaching staff or other students in the supervision of examinations
is wrong.
6
Conducting Examinations in Nigerian University
5)
Evaluation:- The purpose of any evaluation is to determine what has
been achieved. In this case it involves a critical assessment of the whole process
of the conduct of the examination with a view to identifying strengths and
weaknesses. The examination officer or the sub-dean should prepare a report
after each exam, which will be presented at the departmental or school or faculty
meeting for discussion. Such a report should contain steps taken to organise the
examinations, problems or hitches encountered or reported as well as
suggestions for improvement. Other teachers could raise their observations and
make suggestions as well. In higher institutions, examination reports go further
to the higher level of decision-making where the results are ratified before being
released to students, that is, the Senate chaired by the Vice Chancellor or the
Academic Board Chaired by the Provost or the Rector in Colleges of Education
and the Polytechnic, respectively. Far reaching decisions can be taken at this
level for improvement in future examinations (e.g. constructing additional
classroom, among others). Who then are exam managers and what role do they
play individually?
Examination Managers and their Role: The University example.
The primary assignment of any school is to teach and examine. An
examiner is someone who tests knowledge or ability. Therefore, all teachers are
examiners But managing an examination is a broader role than examining (i.e.
setting questions and marking). Managing examinations as mentioned earlier,
involves planning, implementation and evaluation of the whole examination
process. An examination manager is someone who by virtue of his official
responsibility is connected, in one way or the other, with planning and executing
examinations for which he is accountable. Therefore, all teachers and school
heads are examination managers, each playing specific role at various stages of
conducting an examination.
The role of examination managers is however a heavily delegated one,
(in a downward flow of communication) in which all the academic staff are
involved with various responsibilities.
For instance, in the Universities,
examination materials are normally provided by the Vice Chancellor (VC.) who
releases funds for their purchase, passed over to the Dean who distributes them
to the various Heads of Department (H.O.D.) for their own lecturers use
However, accountability for examinations flows upward through the same
7
Conducting Examinations in Nigerian University
officers. The specific responsibilities of each examination manager in Nigerian
universities are presented below though there may be slight variations from one
university to another.
(a)
The Vice Chancellor:
The VC is the chief executive hence the
accounting and reporting officer of the University. He is the chairman of Senate,
the highest authority on academic matters. He therefore has overall responsibility
and remains accountable for all teaching activities including exams which are his
primary assignment as indeed that of any school head (Ogunsaju, 1983 and
Ijaiya, 1991). His role includes ensuring that:
i.
examination dates are fixed well ahead of time by senate;
ii.
materials are made available for the preparation of questions, marking
and recording of grades as well as scripts;
iii.
all rules and regulations guiding examinations are well documented and
released to all lecturers and students ahead of the examination;
iv.
examination halls and furniture are available and conducive for
examinations;
v.
lecturers and students are ready for a hitch-free examination;
vi.
answer scripts are marked on time, results are presented, discussed and
approved by the Senate;
vii.
Examinations report are presented on the floor of Senate and discussed
for necessary decisions to be taken e.g. cases of examination malpractice,
problems of seating arrangement, among others.
viii.
Decisions taken by Senate are implemented.
xi.
Receives examination results of the faculties on the floor of Senate and
with other members, gives approval to deserving students.
However, some of the roles of the V. C. are delegated downward to the
Deans, H.O.Ds. and the invigilators though he remains accountable.
(b)
The Dean:
The chief examiner of his Faculty being the accounting and
reporting officer of the Faculty. He works with and through the Sub-Dean to
ensure a hitch-free examination. The faculty carries out its own planning and
organises the invigilators for the examination. The Dean remains accountable for
examinations in his own Faculty.
The role of the Dean as far as examinations are concerned is to ensure that:
i.
The Faculty makes adequate preparation to meet the date set for the
examination by Senate by preparing the exam timetable and collecting the
materials released by the V.C. for examination purposes;
8
Conducting Examinations in Nigerian University
ii.
Examination timetable reaches the students and lecturers at least two
weeks before commencement;
iii.
Examination materials are distributed to all departments early enough for
preparation of question papers;
iv.
Examination halts are adequate in number and conducive for examination
(e.g. well lighted, spaces between examinees, ventilated, etc.)
v.
The furniture are enough to accommodate the students comfortably; vi.
Each paper is well invigilated;
vii.
University rules and regulations guiding the conduct of examinations are
strictly observed;
viii.
Everything is under control by going round the examination halls
occasionally;
ix.
Marking is done on time, results are prepared and presented to the
Faculty Board of Examiners which he chairs and approved for onward
presentation to the Senate;
X
The Dean also present results of his Faculty on the floor of the Senate
and seeks final approval;
xi.
Directs H.O.Ds. to release results to the students;
xii.
Evaluate the process of the examination by receiving the report from the
Sub-Dean, present it at the Faculty meeting for discussion and suggestions for
improvement,
xiii.
Sets up a panel to investigate cases of examination misconduct reported
to him by the chief invigilator.
(c)
The Head of Department (H.O.D): He is also a chief examination
manager being the accounting and reporting officer of his department. The
H.O.D. works with and through the examination officer of his department
(appointed by him) to ensure that:
i.
His departmental examination timetable is prepared and circulated well
ahead of the examination. If the timetable is centrally controlled by the Faculty,
he ensures that all courses thought by his department are accommodated on the
timetable;
ii.
Lecturers prepared their questions and marking scheme and submit to
him for vetting;
iii.
The questions are typed and enough copies produced and safely parked,
ready for the examination;
9
Conducting Examinations in Nigerian University
iv.
Adequate security is given to the question papers before the paper is
written;
v.
Examination halls are conducive in terms of space, furniture and light;
vi.
Question papers and answer scripts for the department reach the exam
hall on time;
vii.
All examination rules and regulations are adhered to;
viii.
Security is provided for all answer scripts at the end of each paper;
ix.
He calls a departmental meeting to obtain information about the conduct
of the examination as it affects his department, so as to make adjustments if
necessary for future examinations;
x.
Answer scripts are promptly marked, scores collated and presented to the
department for approval;
xi.
The H.O.D. then presents the results and seeks approval at the Faculty
Board of Examiners' meeting;
xii.
Submit approved results to the Dean for presentation and approval by the
Senate.
(d)
The Invigilators:
These are also examination managers by virtue of
their important role in the implementation of examinations. Research findings
show that students employ various types of methods or styles to cheat in the
examination hall (Olaseinde, 1993). It is through the vigilance of the invigilators
that such cheating can be prevented.
The role of an invigilator begins with a prompt arrival in the exam hall and
includes:
i.
Carrying out adequate checking of students before admission into the
examination hall (i.e. identity cards);
ii.
Arranging students carefully to prevent cheating;
iii.
Ensuring that all examination rules and regulations guiding students'
behaviour are obeyed (e.g. students who come to the examination hall thirty
minutes after it started should not be allowed in except by the approval of the
chief invigilator);
iv.
Displaying adequate vigilance to forestall act of cheating;
v.
Ensuring that all students sign the attendance register before leaving the
examination hall;
vi.
Distributing question papers and answer scripts to students;
10
Conducting Examinations in Nigerian University
vii.
Moving round the hall to ensure that no student is cheating and attending
to students' needs (e.g. extra papers);
viii.
Collecting and packing all answer scripts for submission to the
examination co-ordinator
If all examination managers play their roles as enumerated examination
abuse is not likely to occur. But the fact that examination malpractice is now a
common feature in our educational system shows that something is wrong with
the management of our examinations. A recent survey by this writer explored the
role of management in the whole saga of examination malpractice and the result
is presented in Table 1.
Possible Stages of Examination malpractice: the Result of a Recent Survey
The questionnaire survey was conducted in the Faculty of Education,
University of Norm with the aim of finding out the stage in the examination
process at which examination malpractice is mostly perpetrated in such internal
examinations The sample consisted of 25 randomly selected lecturers and 220
students. The instrument was a researcher-made questionnaire, which consisted
of 10 selected stages through which examination questions pass, from the
lecturers who set them to the final stage of marking The respondents were
required to rank them based on the order of importance from (1=the most
possible stage) to ten (10=the east possible stage). The ten selected items
covered various stages of the implementation of examinations Three lecturers in
the Faculty of Education ascertained the validity of the questionnaire and the
reliability determined by using Pearson moment correlation coefficient formula
yielded 0.91. The data was collected during the recently held second semester
examination (2001). The result is presented in Table 1.
11
Conducting Examinations in Nigerian University
Table 1:
Rank order correlation, using Pearson's r, of lecturers' and students' opinion
on stages when exam malpractice is mostly perpetrated.
Items
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Lecturer's end (his table, actions, utterances)
During typing of questions (typists end)
During duplicating of question papers
Keeping of questions after duplication
Sitting arrangement in the examination hall
Poor invigilation due to inadequate invigilators
Lack of vigilance by invigilators
Stage of collecting answer scripts in the hall
During marking of answer scripts
Tampering with grades submitted by lecturers
N = 25
N = 250
Lecturers Students d2
d2
X
8
2.5
2.5
5
1
6
7
4
9
10
2.25
0.25
1.00
2.25
0.0
1.0
4.0
4.0
1.0
0.25
Y
95
2
35
3.5
1
7
5
6
8
9.5
-1.5
0.5
-1
1.5
0.0
-1
2
-2
1
0.5
6Σd2 .
P= 1 –n(n2 - 1)
6x256 .
P = 1 –245x60024
1536 .
P = -1- 1440576
P = 1 - 0.001 = 0.09
The result presented in Table 1 shows a high correlation of 0.09 between
the opinion of lecturers and students on the most possible stage during which
examination malpractice is perpetrated. According to them, sitting arrangement,
a purely management responsibility, ranked number one for examination
malpractice. This finding confirms Olaseinde’s (1993) findings that students use
various types of cheating techniques at this stage. Inadequate halls and
classrooms, furniture and invigilators are mostly the factors aiding students
tendency to cheat. Inadequate school plant and poor maintenance of existing
12
Conducting Examinations in Nigerian University
ones are the bane of effective teaching an fraud-free examination in many
Nigerian schools. Invigilating General Studies course or Special Electives and
Faculty-based core courses is a harowing experience for lecturers. One
invigilator has to oversee a hall with 300 students. Inadequate invigilators prevent
the spreading of students to classroom in other faculties after all spaces in the
Faculty of Education have been filled.
Also; ranked significant (second and third places) as likely stages of
examination malpractice are the typing and duplicating stages. This is also a
management issue. Fraudulent typist can memorise some questions or key
words, steal the carbon on the stencils or a duplicate copy of the question paper
carefully tossed in to the dustbin as a rough paper at the duplicating stage. This
finding indicates insecurity of the question papers and an indictment of the typist
and examination officer or the H.O.D wherever it occurs. This is not a new
problem as some higher institutions have discovered this conduit for examination
leakage during investigation of examination malpractice in the past. One method
now adopted by many departments to forestall memorising of question paper is
to type all questions in one day. However, that measure is not foolproof as other
means of cheating can still be adopted. Item 6 and 7 on the questionnaire have
to do with the quality of vigilance by invigilators. The ranking of both items ('poor
invigilating due to inadequate invigilators' and lack of vigilance by invigilators), as
6 and 7 and 7 and 5 respectively by both lecturers and students can be regarded
as average. This may appear contradictory to the ranking of seating arrangement
as the possible stage of cheating, but may also suggest that invigilators are trying
their best within the limits allowed by over-crowded examination halls. The
ranking of item 8 suggests that it is still possible for students to cheat at the stage
of collecting their answer scripts. This is usually possible in large classes which
are sometimes rowdy and the crowd almost impossible to control at times at this
stage.
Though the survey ranked the lecturers low in examination malpractice
(eight by lecturers and nine by students), they were not completely exonerated. A
few respondents even ranked them number one. Besides, the fact that the
preparation of questions is their responsibility means that they are accountable if
there is a leakage at the typing or duplication stages.
13
Conducting Examinations in Nigerian University
Conclusions and Recommendations
So much attention has been concentrated on examination malpractice in Nigeria
with little or no attention on how to manage a successful fraud-free examination.
Examination is the responsibility of school management just like teaching. It has
implication for school plant planning as well as personnel management as
discussed in this paper. In spite of its importance especially in making decisions
about many aspects of the education system, it has over the years been denied
due attention especially in time allocation and careful planning and
implementation. This laissez-faire attitude is also manifested in inadequate
provision of examination halls, poor and insufficient furniture as well as poor
invigilation. This is why examination fraud is on the increase. Even universities,
which should set examples, are equally guilty. These observations are supported
by the result of the survey presented in this article and similar findings of earlier
studies. This constitutes an indictment of lecturers and university management
who collectively are examination managers and whose duties it is to make
adequate provision of space, furniture, invigilators and security for every
examination. The contention of this paper is that examination fraud implies poor
management. To prevent examination fraud therefore, examination managers
must be held accountable. The major factors militating against fraud-free
examination in this country are the inability of the government to implement
reports and recommendations by school inspectors, researchers and concerned
public about the urgency of adequately funding the education sectors to cater for
improvement of school plant. The apparent lack of accountability in the conduct
of examinations is another crucial factor. For effective management of
examinations, the following recommendations are worth considering:
1.
Examination managers and their roles must be clearly specified in writing
and be made accountable for any lapses in the conduct of any
examination,
2.
Over-crowdedness in examination halls must be tackled seriously by
school proprietors, Government or private, through total overhaul of school
buildings and furniture;
3.
Sanctions must be imposed on any examination manager, found wanting
in the performance of his duties, for instance, an invigilator;
4.
Rules and regulations guiding any examination must be written clearly
and circulated to all students and lecturers;
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Conducting Examinations in Nigerian University
5.
Examination must be properly planned with enough time so that there will
be no fire brigade approach;
6.
More lecturers should be employed to improve the standard of teaching
and invigilation;
7.
Finally, good school management implies that all school programmes and
activities are well planned and executed. Examinations should not be an
exemption. They must receive the same elaborate attention that is generally
giving to teaching.
Reference
Adeoyeje, R. A. (1994). Management of school physical facilities. Ibadan:
Fountain Publications
Adeboyeje, R. A. (1994). A practical approach to effective utilisation and
maintenance of physical facilities in secondary schools. In J.O. Fadipe &
E. E. Oluchukwu (Eds),__Educational planning and administration in
Nigeria in the 21st century (pp. 88-103). Ibadan: Daily Graphics Ltd.
Adekale, A. (1993). Incidence and cause of examination malpractice among
students of university of llorin. Journal of Educational, 4 (1), 18 - 41.
Adesina, S. (1990). Educational management. Enugu: Fourth Dimension
Publishing Co. Ltd.
Aghenta, J. A. (1999). Educational planning in the 21st century. In J. O. Fadipe &
E. E. Oluchukwu (Eds.), Educational planning and administration in
Nigeria: in the 21st century (pp.2 - 18), Ibadan: Daily Graphics Ltd.
Durosaro, D.O. (1998) School plant management practice in Nigeria: trends,
issues and problems. In A. A. Olagboye & J. O. Fadipe (Eds.)
Management of Nigerian education: Project monitoring and school plant
maintenance (pp. 53-63). Ondo: NIEPA.
Gronlund, E. G. (1985). Measurement and evaluation in teaching. New York:
Macmillan Publishing Company.
Ijaiya, Y. (1998). Eradicating examination malpractice: A macro-theoretical
framework option. Nigerian Journal of Development Issues: Socio,
Political and Economics Development, 2 (2), 72-85.
Ogunsaju, S. (1983). Educational supervision: Perspectives and practices in
Nigeria, lle-lfe: University of Ife press Ltd.
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Conducting Examinations in Nigerian University
Ogunsaju. S. (1990). A guide to school effectiveness in Nigeria. Ibadan: Laville
Publications.
Olaseinde, F .A. O. (1993). Cheating in examinations in the University of llorin:
styles, cause and remedies.
Nigerian Journal of Educational
Foundations. 4(1), 62 - 75.
Olutola, A. D. (1989). Educational facilities and students' performance in West
African school certificate examination. International Journal of
Educational Management. 1(1), 17-24.
Omotola, J. (2000, Monday, May 29). UNILAG commissions N148m multipurpose hall. The Guardian (p. 26).
The Herald (2000, Wednesday, April 26) Bayero University gets 3-days
ultimatum (pp. 1-2).
Prof. (Mrs.) N. Y. S. Ijaiya is in the Department of Educational Management,
University of llorin.
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