War On Miracle Centres

Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State

Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State moves to eradicate examination malpractice in the state, as he issues a stern warning to those involved
By Sam Tyav, Makurdi
A secondary school student was recently told by his guardian that he would transfer him from the village to a secondary school in Makurdi, the Benue State capital. But in utter surprise, the student simply told his benefactor: “You don’t have love for me. When students in the final classes are moving to villages to pass their examinations, you are rather considering to transfer me from the village to the town”.
Surprisingly, this brief exchange happens to be a replica of what is obtainable in most parts of the state. Students in their final class and those for external examinations prefer to write such examinations in rural areas, where they believe that thorough supervision or invigilation is lacking. In most cases, candidates for these examinations are rather encouraged to cheat by their school management and some corrupt supervisors from the examination bodies, the West on African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO). This also explains why students seek transfer, while in higher classes, to schools situated in rural areas to enable them pass their papers which is the prime concern of most candidates of these examinations. These rural schools where examination malpractice is encouraged are proudly and popularly called Miracle Centres.
The Miracle Centres are, indeed, really miraculous. They, in fact, perform miracles as even dullards come out with distinctions in their WAEC or NECO examinations. Surprisingly, rural schools manage to get an examination centre but would genuinely have less than 10 candidates to register for examination. But when examination time approaches, the school would have more candidates than their school examination hall can accommodate. The number of candidates the school genuinely had –and the number it actually registers – also point to the fact that these schools are really miracle centres. Again, the results of these candidates from rural schools attest to the fact that the affected candidates left the urban centres with “good” reason.
This, however, does not mean that students in urban centres do not pass their examinations. It is, instead, that those that insist on transfer to rural areas for the purpose of these examinations know their level of intelligence and that they could only make it where malpractice is encouraged in examinations.
Worried by this ugly trend, the Benue State Government recently came out with a warning, threatening to close down miracle examination centres and sack principals and teachers involved in the unwholesome act.
This indication was given by the State Governor, Gabriel Suswam, last month in Makurdi during a workshop involving secondary school authorities in the state (principals and vice principals, academics).
Suswam threatened to hand over any person caught in the act to law enforcement agencies for prosecution. He lamented that examination malpractice has unfortunately gotten a boost from those who ordinarily are expected to fight the menace. He named those involved in examination malpractice to include parents, school proprietors, principals, teachers and even personnel of the various examination bodies.
Suswam, who spoke through his deputy, Chief Steven Lawani, was of the firm belief that those who are actively involved in examination malpractice would certainly know or provide possible ways of eradicating the problem.
The governor disclosed the desire of his administration to reposition the education sector to achieve desired results but lamented that if such practices continue unchecked, the good intentions of the state government would remain a mere dream.”
To ensure that the war against examination malpractice is fought and won, Suswan called on all stakeholders including parents, proprietors and students, among others, to join the government in the war against the menace. He charged participants at the workshop to spread the message to their colleagues.
As part of the strategy to tackle the problem, the governor assured that the state Ministry of Education would be supported to intensify the supervision and the conduct of examinations in the state.
Shaapera Naako, the state Commissioner for Education, had early assured the people of the state that the ministry was poised to stem the menace of examination malpractice and other social vices, drastically. He lamented that in some schools, proprietors impose it on principals and teachers while in some others, principals and teachers encourage the menace by requesting for payment of what they regard as “examination malpractice fees”. He disclosed, that the practice has continued to tarnish the image of the state, accounting for its poor ranking in the North Central geo-political zone.
Participants at the workshop who contributed said the educational programme of the state ought to be rebranded. They also called for a stop to the menace and pledged to do same.
But this is not the first time the state government is taking such measures against examination mal-practice. The Source learnt that in 2006, the state government descended heavily on those alleged to be involved in examination mal-practice. Six principals involved then were demoted and the various schools had their examination centres withdrawn. After series of appeals and reconsideration of their cases, the affected principals were pardoned. But the threat alone made some schools that were not even involved to take steps to halt the trend. But when it appeared as though the state government had relaxed it’s war on examination malpractice, some schools soon noticed and went back to the ugly practice. Some of those affected were not, however, wholly rural. This implies that the menace can be practiced even in the heart of metropolitan cities.
Investigations by The Source indicate that most proprietors involved in the menace are said to be in real booming business. Their resolute stance is said to be that since they established their schools as business ventures, they would stop at nothing to attract students to their schools. Attracting students to their schools, they reckon, is largely by students’ ‘good’ performance in examinations. This explains why proprietors would compel principals to register students for external examinations, even if they had not been in the schools before.
The state Ministry of Education, The Source gathered, in 2006 introduced a measure that is still being practised. The ministry directed that promotion to SSS III and subsequent registration for NECO and WAEC would depend on one’s mock examination results – and that no student should be transfer red in SSS III. In as much as this was made to check the menace, principals and other stakeholders continued to violate the directive. This is done by who can afford to pay all the required money, including examination malpractice fee.
“This is why it is important to state that the war against the menace is a war for all, as it will guide against half-baked graduates; people who cannot defend their certificates, but people who can really move the society forward. The state government should not relax in any way, the strict measures taken against the menace so that there would be no breathing space,” remarked Emmanuel Barki, a lecturer at the Benue State Polytechnic, Ugbokolo.
He also enjoined the state government to provide quality teachers in all schools, so that students would be adequately prepared for examinations, instead of having to rush to destructive miracle centres.