Curb malpractices!
Examinations for PLE, UCE and UACE are drawing close. candidates and teachers preparing for exams malpractice need to be informed of the forms of malpractices examination cheats prefer
By Patrick Opio
Examinations for PLE, UCE and UACE are drawing close. candidates and teachers preparing for exams malpractice need to be informed of the forms of malpractices examination cheats prefer.
Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) defines malpractice in examination as an act of wrong doing carried out by a candidate or group of candidates or any other person with the intention to cheat or gain unfair advantage in an examination.
As an experienced educator and PLE (invigilator and supervisor) in Apac district, the commonest forms of malpractice I see in exams are:
Substitution
It takes place when a candidate’s answer script written under examination conditions is replaced with another script written outside the examination conditions.
UNEB scouts, supervisors and invigilators and candidates should therefore watch and witness the sealing of scripts in the returning envelopes.
External Assistance
This includes dictation of answers to candidates by teachers writing solutions to questions for candidates to copy; writing answers to all or part of a question in a candidate’s answer script.
Teachers should not invigilate their own schools. This type of malpractice is common at primary school level.
Smuggling
Smuggling takes place when a candidate takes written information into the examination room with intention to cheat. A candidate may write notes on palms, thighs, desks, .... etc.
Supervisors and invigilators have to check candidates thoroughly before entering the examination room.
Collusion
This occurs when two or more candidates in an examination room secretly agree to assist each other to answer all or part of an examination question. For instance candidates whispering.
UNEB also stresses that the scouts, supervisors and invigilators must be vigilant.
Impersonation
This occurs when somebody, other than the candidate duly registered for that examination, claiming to be the rightful candidate, sits or attempts to sit the examination for the registered candidate. UNEB warns that any person found impersonating, will be arrested, taken to police and prosecuted.
Leakage
This involves having prior knowledge of the contents of the examination questions. Some unscrupulous persons may sell fake exams papers to desperate candidates. Therefore, candidates are advised to depend on their books exclusively.
Supervisors must check the examination question paper envelopes to ensure that they have not been tampered with. they should also keep them securely without intrusion. UNEB says any school found to have involved itself in examination malpractice will have its centre number withdrawn forthwith.
If it is a private school, Ministry of Education and sports will de-register it and its proprietors will be blacklisted.
All teachers found involved in examination malpractice will be prosecuted, punished and de-registered by the education Service commission.
UNEB cautions: “all teachers who feel they cannot withstand temptations towards exam malpractices are advised to reconsider their supervision of exams.†UNEB’s decision to deploy scouts in all exam centres last year reduced malpractices. If the same is done in subsequent years, exam malpractices will be history.
Examinations for PLE, UCE and UACE are drawing close. candidates and teachers preparing for exams malpractice need to be informed of the forms of malpractices examination cheats prefer.
Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB) defines malpractice in examination as an act of wrong doing carried out by a candidate or group of candidates or any other person with the intention to cheat or gain unfair advantage in an examination.
As an experienced educator and PLE (invigilator and supervisor) in Apac district, the commonest forms of malpractice I see in exams are:
It takes place when a candidate’s answer script written under examination conditions is replaced with another script written outside the examination conditions.
UNEB scouts, supervisors and invigilators and candidates should therefore watch and witness the sealing of scripts in the returning envelopes.
This includes dictation of answers to candidates by teachers writing solutions to questions for candidates to copy; writing answers to all or part of a question in a candidate’s answer script.
Teachers should not invigilate their own schools. This type of malpractice is common at primary school level.
Smuggling takes place when a candidate takes written information into the examination room with intention to cheat. A candidate may write notes on palms, thighs, desks, .... etc.
Supervisors and invigilators have to check candidates thoroughly before entering the examination room.
This occurs when two or more candidates in an examination room secretly agree to assist each other to answer all or part of an examination question. For instance candidates whispering.
UNEB also stresses that the scouts, supervisors and invigilators must be vigilant.
This occurs when somebody, other than the candidate duly registered for that examination, claiming to be the rightful candidate, sits or attempts to sit the examination for the registered candidate. UNEB warns that any person found impersonating, will be arrested, taken to police and prosecuted.
This involves having prior knowledge of the contents of the examination questions. Some unscrupulous persons may sell fake exams papers to desperate candidates. Therefore, candidates are advised to depend on their books exclusively.
Supervisors must check the examination question paper envelopes to ensure that they have not been tampered with. they should also keep them securely without intrusion. UNEB says any school found to have involved itself in examination malpractice will have its centre number withdrawn forthwith.
If it is a private school, Ministry of Education and sports will de-register it and its proprietors will be blacklisted.
All teachers found involved in examination malpractice will be prosecuted, punished and de-registered by the education Service commission.
UNEB cautions: “all teachers who feel they cannot withstand temptations towards exam malpractices are advised to reconsider their supervision of exams.†UNEB’s decision to deploy scouts in all exam centres last year reduced malpractices. If the same is done in subsequent years, exam malpractices will be history.