Examination malpractice, the end to all forms of creativity, the destroyer of one’s reputation and ambition in life.
It is no doubt that examination malpractice is on the increase day by day in most tertiary institutions as students engage in one form of malpractice or the other, bringing the institutions into disrepute. This examination malpractice can be attributed to the fact that the reading culture in today’s society is gradually fizzling out, if not totally lost.
It’s so disheartening today to see students deploy various strategies and tactics to cheat during examination, damming the consequences.
You will be amazed at the level of confidence and courage exuded by these students to carry implicating materials into the examination hall despite the strict warning and thorough search done by invigilators before entry into the examination hall.
If this level of determination and dedication is channelled into reading and passing effectively, the truth is, there won’t be any cause to engage in examination malpractice.
When you get involved in examination malpractice, you place a limitation on your level of creativity and jeopardize your future.
Cheating in an examination will not allow you to put your creativity to test and explore how intelligent you are. Examination malpractice put you in a condition to believe that you cannot read and assimilate on your own without cheating.
Giving your creativity the ability to explore by putting it to test in the examination hall ignite the abilities in you.
No man is definitely born a dullard or a failure. The choice is ours to be a dullard or otherwise.
Similarly, no man is an empty vessel. We all have that unique abilities deposited in us but by and large, it depends on how we are able to utilize and bring that uniqueness to life by cultivating the habit of reading and understanding.
The day students start mastering the art of effective reading, the day they realize that examination malpractice is evil which has come to rip them off their creativity and ambition in life, perhaps, that will be the impetus to a change of narrative in this regard.
When interpreting reasons students engage in examination malpractice, I realize that students are yet to familiarize themselves with the reading terrain as opposed to that of the pleasure terrain.
Naturally, the human nature tilts towards pleasure and therefore engages in whatever will bring that pleasure. In the same vein, we have the power over our mind and our activities to condition ourselves to begin seeing reading as pleasure. When we link pleasure to reading, then we have succeeded in breaking the cog of examination malpractice. You begin to ask how do you link pleasure to reading? When you fully understand the benefits and advantages associated with reading and understanding, it gives you the inner joy to want to read and enjoy the benefits inherent in reading. If you are the type that reads consistently, you will be highly respected, people will always be eager to listen to you, reading will attract people and favour to you and you will be tagged as highly intelligent by people. But when you engage in examination malpractice, it debases you, lowers your standard and puts your reputation at stake with people beginning to see you in a bad light as someone completely dull and unintelligent even if you have something "upstairs".
Students engage in examination malpractice due to lack of trust and confidence in their abilities. Some students have completely believed and conditioned themselves to failure to the extent that they believe they cannot read and assimilate without resulting to cheating in examination.
Students should come to terms with the fact that the human brain is elastic enough to accommodate a whole lot of information only if they program it to do so by cultivating effective reading habit. They should know that when they limit their ability to read, they lose the zeal to learn and their creativity is at a beggarly low.
Strength lies in creativity and the moment one is able to nurture and grow one’s creativity, one begins to make positive impact in the society and therefore be a force to reckon with.
Another reason students engage in examination malpractice is the laziness to read. No wonder the society is the way it is today. Students who are meant to think and contribute brilliantly to solving societal problems have nothing in their brains due to the fact that they haven’t loaded it with useful and vital information to save the country, dave themselves. When you read today, it builds and brace you up for tomorrow’s challenge.
Students need to understand the secret to reading which is understanding and comprehension. Once students are able to understand and comprehend what they have read, I see no reason they should cheat during examination.
Having understood what is being read, students needs to master and learn the usage of words. When they are familiar with how to use words to express their ideas and thoughts in a lucid manner, then they are a step closer to success. Words are so powerful and indispensable to students because they form the basis of their knowledge which can viably be derived through reading.
On no account should students underestimate the power of ideas as every one has in them an atom of idea deposited in them either through experience or reasoning. And one of the ways ideas can be derived is via what we have read which will in turn help us later in the future when we need them.
In curtailing or eradicating examination malpractice, the school authorities, lecturers, parents as well as students have a lot to do.
It’s high time school authorities and management tightened their guard and followed the rules and regulations without compromise and favouritism.
The school authorities need not pardon any students found culpable of such disreputable act. They should be made to face the law without favour so it will serve as a deterrent to others who might be willing to tread same part.
Lecturers should update and change their teaching and lecturing techniques, be regular and punctual to class, lecture the students effectively and carry them along in class discussion.
Parents also need to encourage their children to read and learn as well.
Also, the government needs to update the school curriculum to accommodate new and developmental courses that will positively impact students lives.
Library orientation courses should be made compulsory to students to encourage them to read, consequently, boosting the reading culture. When we all play our part, then rest assured that examination malpractice will be nipped in the bud.
This is invariably a wake-up call to all students in all nooks and crannies of the world to shun examination malpractice because it poses lots of dangers to one and the society at large.
Students should say no to examination malpractice as when they do that, success will begin to smile at them and their lives will take a positive turnout.
Adepoju Kowiyat is an HND2 student of Mass Communication.
