The Federal Government of Nigeria has proposed the establishment of a National Examination Malpractice Court/Tribunal to ensure the prompt prosecution of examination fraud and serve as a strong deterrent against cheating.
This announcement was made by the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, while receiving a report from a 17-member committee tasked with improving the quality of examinations in Abuja.
The committee submitted a comprehensive 12-point report aimed at tackling various aspects of examination malpractice and improving the quality of the examination system.
Dr. Alausa affirmed the recommendations and assured that all would be fully implemented.
“Let me assure all the committee members that you have done so much work here, and all the recommendations you have given us as a government, we will implement every single one of them.
“All the 12 recommendations that you reeled out, everyone will agree with me today that none of them will be impossible to implement. They are all practicable things. Those that will be implemented now, we will do that right away,” he said
The Federal Government inaugurated a committee to drive reforms on improving the integrity and quality of Nigeria’s examination system.
This recommendation is part of broader reforms targeting impersonation, corruption in Continuous Assessment, poor surveillance, and inconsistent examination standards
The committee also recommended that all candidates’ examination documents, including certificates, registration forms, and result slips, carry the National Identification Number (NIN), photographs, and date of birth to curb identity theft and impersonation.
“Documents, including certificates, registration and result slips, should contain National Identification Number (NIN), photograph and date of birth of candidates, to guard against identity theft and impersonation.”
The committee also recommended that all invigilators and supervisors register using their NIN and subscribe to the examination body’s short code to enable digital tracking and full monitoring of examination officials
“All Invigilators and Supervisors must register through NIN and subscribe to the examination body’s Short Code, using the same pattern of 55019/66019 of JAMB in order to track and have full information about the examination officials, including examiners, supervisors, and invigilators.
“Swapping of Invigilators and Supervisors should commence with effect from the 2025 private SSCE due to the strong views against student swapping expressed by the four concerned examination bodies (WAEC, NECO, NABTEB and NBAIS).
“Except where absolutely impossible, Invigilators and Supervisors should always be public officials, teachers on pensionable appointments.
“The standard requirements of examination halls/centres should not be waived for any school, while the recommended seating arrangement should be 1.5m by 1.2m, or 1.8 sqm per candidate,” the committee stated.
Among the 12-point recommendations, the committee proposed several other measures to enhance the integrity of examinations, including:
Among the 12-point recommendations, the committee proposed several other measures to enhance the integrity of examinations, including: