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HOW TRUANCY
AFFECTS EXAMINATION MALPRACTICES AMONG SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS
ABSTRACT
The study
examined how truancy affects examination malpractices among senior secondary
school students in Ifako Ijaiye Local Government Area of Lagos State. The study
went further to investigate the acts that constitutes truancy and examination
malpractices among senior secondary schools students in Lagos State, Nigeria,
the school and personal related factors responsible for truancy among senior
secondary school students in Lagos State, Nigeria, the effects of truancy on
examination malpractices in senior secondary schools in the State and the
measures currently taken to discourage and prevent truancy and examination
malpractices among senior secondary school students in the State.
Secondary
data provided at Ijaiye Ojokoro Senior High School helped to see the extent of
truancy among the senior secondary school students through the 2014/2015
academic sessions’ attendance register and the academic performance of the
selected truants were accessed from the broad sheet for the 2014/2015 academic
session.
Staying out
of school without permission, absenteeism from school for more than ten times,
engagement of students in anti – social behaviours, skipping lessons even while
in school missing school because of
undone assignments and staying out of classroom can lead students into bad
association were all statements the respondents agreed with en masse as acts
that constitutes truancy.
Learner’s
fear of a threatening situation at school can make him play truancy (56.5%), students’ inability to cope with academic
expectations and demands (93.5%), a child can decide to absent himself from
school so as to avoid being bullied/threatened by older students (67.7%), too
much discipline/punishments by teachers can lead a student into truant
behaviour (75.8%), a child can become a truant through his/her choice of
friends (95.2%), several home factors may contribute to the truant behaviour of
students (91.9%), insufficient and dilapidated physical facilities such as
classrooms, furniture and other conveniences (72.6%) of the respondents agreed that poor educator
– learner relationship (69.4%), teaching or instructional approach (56.5%) and
shyness of repeaters to sit in classroom with younger students (98.45%)
contributed immensely to truancy among the senior secondary school students.
Periodic
counselling approach, using a variety of instructional approach, effective
monitoring and recording of students’ attendance, building learners resiliency,
acting fast on learners absence from school,
prosecuting parents of truants and blacklisting of the affected
examination centres showed positive
relationship with staying out of school without permission; therefore the
aforementioned measures shall be very effective in the reduction of truancy
which will consequently reduce the incidences of examination malpractices among
the senior secondary school students in Ifako Ijaiye Local Government Area of
Lagos State.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1Background
to the Study
Truancy is
one of the major antisocial discipline problems among secondary school students
in Nigeria. The concept and acts of indiscipline have received a lot of
attention by researchers. Peck opined that the various behavioural disorders
like stealing, violence, drug abuse, examination malpractice, sexual abuse and
truancy have so undermined effective teaching-learning processes that some
teachers have become helpless and disorganized in their task of impacting
knowledge to the learners (Peck, 2002).
In recent
times, education has been recognized globally as one of the universal ways of
survival and improvement of the well-being of individuals and society. The
advent of formal education is considered as the foundation for national
development as well as the surest way of making of life long achievements. For
these reasons, families and citizens especially the youth and children now pay
more attention to education. (Ogbonna et.al, 2013).
However, the
effort invested by the federal government of Nigeria on education had over the
years proven a fruitful and promising reward to national development posing a
lively hope for the better in the immediate future. It is of no doubt that
several factors have posed relentless restriction to the trend of the rapid
development in education; for which truancy in both student and teachers in
primary and secondary schools has been a cankerworm to education. This has
raised several questions to the quality of education and educational
administration in Nigerian Secondary Schools. (Ogbonna et.al, 2013).
According to
Huzinga and Thornberry (2000), Truancy is defined as having an unexcused
absence from school for at least three school days during five-day school week.
Moreover, Salford City Counsel Report (2008) defined Truancy as the act when a
child, who is believed to have been at school, fails to attend school classes
without the permission or awareness of the parents or the school authority
concerned. Truancy is an international unauthorized absence from school
activities. Echebiwe (2009) defined
Truancy as a situation when a child under sixteen years of age who is
registered at school fails to attend classes without prior formal permission
from the parent or school authority. Not only do these issues present immediate
concerns, there are also ramifications of these issues that can affect a person
later in adulthood.
Therefore,
Truancy is the practice of staying away from school without permission (Sydney,
2013). A child who engages in this act is therefore referred to as a Truant.
This implies that every child is expected to be in school and must be present
in school and class attendance regularly unless when a child is duly permitted
to be absent in respect to health reasons or otherwise stated. (Ogbonna et.al,
2013).
However,
children who engage in Truancy might have found life in classrooms dull, boring
and uninteresting. Also, they must have found greater pleasure and interest in
activities outside the school and the classroom environment. Such children
usually leave their homes giving everybody the impression that they have gone
to school, but stopped on the way side to participate in what they like to
enjoy most. This they do until it is time for school dismissal and they return
home. Some others are caught playing round the street with other Truants,
engaging in gambling and loitering round the school premises. This is because
some Truants get scared of some unfriendly treatment from teachers, unpleasant
encounters during classroom work, unnecessary harassment and embarrassment by
the senior students. These lead to loss of interest in academics in the
classroom by the student.
Some Truants
engage in Truancy because of the feeling of inferiority among their classmates,
laziness to class work, challenges of classroom test and assignments, verbal
abuses and threats of classroom instructors, school phobia, anxiety, bullying,
lack of skills needed to perform well at school, lack of priority to education
and academics (Kirk et.al, 2013). The school has also been identified as a
strong factor responsible for truancy. Adewole reported that breakdown of communication,
student over population, shortage of teachers, undue application of corporal
punishment as well as peer influence at school are strongly associated with
truancy.
Furthermore,
the impact of truancy is very obvious and usually a negative one on Truants’
present and future life in education. Truancy results in loss of intellectual
development and lack of improvement of individual. Also, it leads to poor
academic performance at the end of the school periods, school terms and school
year. Truancy as a threat to academic performances of the student is believed
to reduce the quality of education the child receives. It reduces the standard
of academic achievement of a child. It leads to the fall of educational
standard in schools. It increases the rate of examination malpractices and poor
examination results of both internal and external examinations. Truancy is also
a factor that contributes to idleness, joblessness, unemployment and
underemployment of most adults today, just because they engaged in the act of
Truancy during their school days. (Ogbonna, et. al, 2013). In past research, truancy has been found to
be related to various types of delinquency, including gang activity, alcohol
and drug abuse, serious property crimes and examination malpractices (Baker,
et. al 2001).
Examination
malpractices in all its form is a major social problem in Nigeria. In the last
two decades the country witnessed an alarming rate of increase in examination
misconducts especially at the secondary school level. Evidences abound of
increasing rate of examination malpractices by students, teachers and parents.
Examination malpractice has become so widespread that there is virtually no
examination anywhere at all levels and even outside the formal school system
that it does not take place. Every examination season witnesses the emergence
of new and clever ways of cheating. (Jimoh, 2009).
Unfortunately,
the process of examination in Nigeria secondary schools has become a
“contemporary shame” (Nwadiani, 2005). This is because of the phenomenon of
examination malpractice that has become endemic in the educational system. The
examination Malpractice Act (1999) explains examination malpractice as any act
of omission or commission by a person who in anticipation of, before, during or
after any examination fraudulently secured any unfair advantage for him/
herself or any other person in such a manner that contravenes the rules and
regulations to the extent of undermining the validity, reliability,
authenticity of the examination and ultimately the integrity of the
certificates issued. Oluyeba and Daramola (cited in Alutu and Aluede, 2006)
remarked that examination malpractice is any irregular behaviour exhibited by a
candidate or anybody charged with the conduct of examination before, during or
after the examination that contravenes the rules and regulations governing the
conduct of such examination.
Nigeria’s
education system is largely certificate oriented. So much value and emphasis
are placed on certificates instead of knowledge, skills and competence.
According to Nwandiani (2005), the market place value and reward for the level
and face value quality of certificates promote tendencies for and acts of
cheating in the process of certification. Many school leavers and dropouts have
certificates without knowledge and skills. Most of the social maladies like
manufacture and sale of fake drugs by pharmacists, collapse of buildings,
massive fraud in banks and miscarriage of justice are consequences of over
emphasis and value on certificates. And if this trend is allowed to continue,
the country will end up with doctors who cannot differentiate between vein and
artery, lawyers who cannot differentiate between an accused person and the
complainant and teachers who may not be able to spell the names of their
schools correctly (Orbih, 2006). It is high time the nation took certificates
no more as passports to jobs or higher education; more emphasis should be
placed on the competence and skill acquisition. The implication of this is that
assessment of students should no longer be based on one almighty examination;
rather, it should be continuous, from the very first day at school to the very
last day. Continuous Assessment should be properly implemented. In addition,
there should be re-orientation in the value system of the country. (Jimoh
2009).
The
phenomenon of examination malpractice seems to be aggravated by the large scale
and shameful involvement of dishonest and greedy teachers, school heads,
parents and all those who take part in examination administration. The
prominence assumed by this malady in the school system has become a source of
concern to stakeholders in the education industry. Every examination season
witnesses new and ingenious methods of cheating. The examination process has
become endangered to the extent that certification has almost lost its
credibility in the country. Certificates no longer seem to reflect skill and
competence. Accusing fingers have been pointed at teachers, school heads,
parents, students, examination officials and even security agents as those
responsible for examination malpractice in the school system. (Ijaiya, 1998).
Common
observations in the State show that examination malpractices occur in both
public and private secondary schools. Although some researchers argued that
examination malpractices occur at a high rate in public schools (Baiyelo, 2004;
Daniel, 2005), other researchers (Ijaiya, 1998; Igwe, 2004) were of the view
that examination malpractices occur at a high rate in private schools. None of
these researchers have been able to identify whether or not examination
malpractices was at a higher rate in public schools than in private schools.
The argument therefore is, are public secondary schools more involved in
examination malpractices than private schools in the State? In the past two
decades, common observation in the school system showed that public schools
were engaged in examination malpractices at a high rate while private schools
were model schools (Aghenta, 2000; Adeyegbe, 2002). These days, it is common to
find students who failed the senior secondary certificate examination in public
schools going to retake the examination in private schools and at the same time
passing the examination with credits and distinctions in such schools. It seems
that the need to have good results in public examinations and advertise their
schools to
prospective
students in the wake of money making appears to have led many private schools
to be involved in examination malpractices. (Adeyemi, 2010)
1.2
Statement of the Problem
For a while
now, the school structure has been faced by a number of hitches. These hitches
affects classroom instruction, school administration and the overall
performance of students. It affects academic performance both in internally and
externally conducted examinations. Among these problems are truancy, bullying,
fighting, rape and, cultism that have affected the teaching - learning process
adversely and made the learning environment an uninteresting place to both the
teacher and the students. (Ogbonna et.al). The persistent occurrence of
examination malpractices has been a major concern to educationists (Aghenta,
2000; Ige, 2002). Knowing the importance of examinations in the educational
system of the State, the instances of malpractices during examinations have
been identified (Cromwell, 2000; Adeyegbe, 2002). Despite the high premium
placed on examinations by the National Policy on Education (FGN, 2004), it
seems that examination malpractices have not been properly addressed in Lagos
State, Nigeria. Common observations have shown that there are mass cheatings in
public examinations in the State. Nothing concrete has been done to reduce the
problem except the cancellation of results for a particular centre or the
withholding of results in certain subjects. (Adeyemi, 2010). Therefore, it is
the concern of this work to look into how truancy among several factors affects
examination malpractices among senior secondary school students in Lagos State
(A case study of Ifako – Ijaye Local Government Area of Lagos State).
1.3 i Research Questions
The
following research questions were addressed in the study.
a. What acts constitutes truancy and
examination malpractices among senior secondary schools students in Lagos
State, Nigeria?
b. What are the school and personal related
factors responsible for truancy among senior secondary school students in Lagos
State, Nigeria?
c. What are the effects of truancy on
examination malpractices in senior secondary schools in the State?
d. What are
the measures currently taken to discourage and prevent truancy and examination
malpractices among senior secondary school students in the State?
Research Hypotheses
1. There is no significant relationship
between truancy and examination malpractices among senior secondary schools
students in Lagos State.
2. There is no significant relationship
between school related and personal related factors responsible for truancy
among senior secondary school students.
3. There is no significant difference
between examination malpractices and truancy among senior secondary school
students in Lagos State.
4. There is no significant difference
between measures currently taken to discourage and prevent truancy and
examination malpractices among senior secondary school students in Lagos State.
1.4 Purpose
of the study
The main
purpose of this research work was to investigate how truancy affects
examination malpractices among senior secondary school students in Ifako-Ijaiye
Local Government Area of Lagos State.
However, the
specific purposes were to:
a. identify reasons why senior secondary
school students engage themselves in
truancy
b. investigate factors responsible for truancy among senior
secondary school students
c. find out effects of truancy on
examination malpractices among the senior secondary school students
d. suggest possible solution to truancy and
examination malpractices among senior secondary school students
1.5 Significance
of the Study
Improving
student attendance and truancy prevention have always been areas of concern for
educators, as well as, community members, and legislators. Students who are not
in school cannot learn, and frequently drop out. Truant students often engage
in high-risk behaviors such as examination malpractices which eventually
entangle them in the juvenile justice system (Jay and Mary, 2005). The
seriousness of examination malpractice and its widespread manifestation have
received attention in research. It has generated both public and private
discussions Ijaiya, (1998); Sooze, (2004)). The Exam Ethics Project (EEP), led
by Ike Onyechere, is currently leading a campaign against examination
malpractices. Various bodies have also come up with policies on examination
malpractices. The Lagos State Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC) has
also organized a public relations workshop to sensitize the public on the evils
of examination malpractices. Topics covered included the causes of examination
malpractices and other public offences in Nigeria and factors motivating
students to go into cheating in examinations among others (Ozor), 2004).
Therefore, the government,
curricular planners, school administrators, teachers, students and other
stakeholders in the educational field, should work collaboratively to fight the
menace of truancy as it helps to foster
examination malpractices among secondary schools particularly those in senior
secondary schools and in our tertiary institutions.
1.6 Scope of
the study
Attempt was
made by this study to unveil how truancy affects examination malpractices among
secondary school students in Lagos State. The proposed area of study is
Ifako-Ijaiye Local Government of Lagos where secondary school students shall be
used as respondents to elicit information about truancy and its effect on
examination malpractices among secondary school students of the afore mentioned
location.
1.7
Definition of Terms
The
following terms operationally defined as follows;
Truancy: this refers to the absence of a child
from school without permission.
Truant
Student: students who have more than 10 unexcused/unverified absences in an
academic
School year.
Examination:
an exercise designed to evaluate progress, test qualification or knowledge. It
can also be referred to as a formal interrogation that seeks to test ability in
various ways. Examination can be written, oral or practical.
Malpractices:
this is simply a dereliction (intentional neglect) of professional duty.
Examination
Malpractices: is any act of omission or commission by a person who in
anticipation of, before, during or after any examination fraudulently secured
any unfair advantage for him/ herself or any other person in such a manner that
contravenes the rules and regulations to the extent of undermining the
validity, reliability, authenticity of the examination and ultimately the
integrity of the certificates issued.
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