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FG Moves to Curb Exam Fraud with Proposed National Examination Malpractice Tribunal

To guarantee the timely prosecution of exam fraud and function as a potent deterrent against cheating, the Federal Government of Nigeria has suggested the creation of a National Examination Malpractice Tribunal.

Dr. Tunji Alausa, the Minister of Education, made this remark after he received a report from a 17-member committee that was entrusted with enhancing the caliber of exams in Abuja.

In order to address several facets of exam misconduct and raise the standard of the examination system, the committee issued a thorough 12-point report.

Dr. Alausa confirmed the suggestions and promised that they would all be carried out completely.

“I want to reassure all of the committee members that you have done a great deal of work here and that our government will follow through on all of your suggestions.

“Everyone will concur with me today that none of the twelve suggestions you made are impossible to put into practice. All of them are realistic. We will take immediate action on those that will be executed immediately,” he stated.

Background

The federal government inaugurated a committee to drive reforms on improving the integrity and quality of Nigeria’s examination system.

Chaired by the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Is-haq Oloyede, the committee was tasked with standardizing examination practices, addressing malpractice, and ensuring fairness in assessments.
The committee was inaugurated in January and spent five months reviewing issues related to the integrity and quality of examinations across Nigeria.

This recommendation is part of broader reforms targeting impersonation, corruption in Continuous Assessment, poor surveillance, and inconsistent examination standards

Anti-impersonation measures

To prevent identity theft and impersonation, the committee also suggested that the National Identification Number (NIN), photos, and date of birth be included on all candidate examination documents, such as certificates, registration forms, and result slips.

“To prevent identity theft and impersonation, candidates’ National Identification Number (NIN), photo, and date of birth should be included on all documents, including certificates, registration, and result slips.”

In order to facilitate digital tracking and comprehensive oversight of examination authorities, the committee also suggested that all supervisors and invigilators register using their NIN and subscribe to the examination body’s short code.

“To track and have complete information about the examination officials, including examiners, supervisors, and invigilators, all invigilators and supervisors must register through NIN and subscribe to the examination body’s short code, which follows the same pattern as 55019/66019 of JAMB.

Due to the considerable opposition to student swapping voiced by the four relevant examination bodies (WAEC, NECO, NABTEB, and NBAIS), the swapping of invigilators and supervisors should begin with the 2025 private SSCE.

Invigilators and supervisors should always be public servants, such as teachers appointed on a pension basis, unless there is no other option.

According to the commission, “no school should be exempt from the standard requirements of examination halls/centers, and the recommended seating arrangement should be 1.5m by 1.2m, or 1.8 sqm per candidate.”

More insights

Among the 12-point recommendations, the committee proposed several other measures to enhance the integrity of examinations, including:

Equipping all examination halls and centers with stationary CCTV cameras for surveillance and monitoring purposes.
Establishing a mini control room in every examination center where CCTV footage is monitored for immediate alerts.
Joint ownership of central control facilities by examination bodies to save costs.
Deployment of body camcorders to examination halls and centers for effective monitoring.
Generating a unique code linked to NIN at the point of entry into basic school, which must be identified with the pupil throughout their educational journey in Nigeria.
Reviewing the 1999 Examination Malpractice Act to make it immediately implementable.
Reviewing the continuous assessment system due to fraudulent processes in inputting scores.