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Zamfara State tops exams fraud list

From Mohammed Abubakar, Abuja

GOING by examination malpractice index released at the weekend, Zamfara State has been declared the state with the highest examination fraud figure. Out of the 4,784 candidates that sat for the 2003 Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSCE), 2,291 candidates or 47.89 per cent were involved in one form of malpractice or another.

The state is followed closely on the scale by Abia and Rivers states with 42.88 and 40.14 per cent rate of malpractice in that order, according to the data released by the Exams Ethic Project (EEP) .

Submitting the outcome of the monitored 2003 SSCE examination to the Education Minister, Prof. Fabian Osuji in Abuja, the EEP chairman, Mr. Ike Onyechere lamented that the national Examination Malpractice Index (EMI) rose from 10.5 per cent in 2002 to 12.1 per cent in 2003, indicating an increase in exam malpractice.

A similar figure released in April this year showed Kogi State leading other states in exam malpractice for the year 2002. Surprisingly, the state came fourth in the latest ranking with 27.91 per cent in exam fraud for the year 2003.

The report indicated that 10 states comprising Zamfara, Abia, Rivers, Kogi, Borno, Kwara, Benue, Cross River, Imo and Ebonyi accounted for 58.39 per cent of malpractice in 2003 even though they accounted for only 26.7 per cent of a total number of candidates that sat for the examination.

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT), according to the report, was the most ethics-friendly in the federation in 2003 with EMI of 0.09per cent, followed by Adamawa State with 0.82 per cent while Anambra State came third with EMI of 1.72 per cent.

On geo-political rating, the report rated the South-South first on malpractice with EMI of 19.49 per cent, followed by the South-East with EMI of 17.63 per cent; North-Central came third with EMI of 15.02 per cent; North-West was ranked fourth with EMI of 12.04 per cent. The North-East and South-West came fifth and sixth in that order with EMI of 8.71 and 5.33 per cent.

The EMI rating in South-South geopolitical zone showed Rivers State leading with 40.14 per cent, while Delta State was the most ethics-friendly state for 2003 with EMI of 1.89 per cent. For the South-East, Abia recorded the highest EMI rating with 42.88 per cent and Anambra as the most ethics-friendly state with EMI of 1.72 per cent.

For the North-Central zone, Kogi State topped the highest ranking with 27.91 per cent rating with FCT emerging as the most ethics-friendly state in the zone with EMI of 0.09 per cent for 2003. For the states in the north-west, Zamfara took the first position in EMI rating of 47.89 per cent, while Sokoto State emerged as the most ethics-friendly state with EMI of 4.06 per cent.

Borno State topped the ranking in the North-East zone in exam malpractice rating for 2003 with the EMI of 21.24 while Adamawa State was the most ethics-friendly state with EMI of 0.82 per-cent. Ogun State was the highest in South-West zone with EMI rating of 11.90 per cent and Oyo State emerged as the most ethics-friendly state of the zone with the EMI rating of 1.78 per cent.

In view of the ever increasing incidence of exam fraud, Onyechere called on the authorities to ensure that steps be taken to enforce to the letter all regulations relating to exam malpractice. Similarly, he believed that steps should be taken to discourage politicians from using teachers to falsify election results and using students as political thugs, noting that analysis of statistics of malpractice indicated trends whereby exam irregularities increase every election year.

He submitted that the lack of the enforcement of the Exam Malpractice Act No 33 of 1999 was one of the major factors that had kept exam fraudsters on without check. He said exam malpractice had a direct relationship with the high level of corruption and financial as well as economic crimes in the country.

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