The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, has directed that candidates found guilty of examination malpractice will be barred from sitting for any other external examination for three years.
This was contained in a statement titled “Ministerial Directive Regarding The Menace Of ‘Miracle Centres’ In The Education Sector At The Secondary School Level” and made available to the media by the spokesperson of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board(JAMB), Dr Fabian Benjamin, on Tuesday.
The statement noted that the directive, which aligns with Section 16(2) of the Examination Malpractices Act, empowers examination bodies to circulate the names of offenders to other bodies, potentially imposing similar punishments.
The ban will be enforced using the National Identification Number (NIN) and will apply to examinations conducted by bodies such as JAMB, West African Examinations Council (WAEC), National Examination Council(NECO), and National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB).
The directive has also stated that any school or CBT centre involved in examination malpractice should be derecognised for a number of years, with other sister examination bodies following suit and derecognising the same school/CBT centre for the same number of years to run concurrently.
“In accordance with sections 5(1) (c) (Iv) and 6 of the JAMB Act, the Hon. Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, has directed that:
“Any school/CBT centre involved In examination malpractice and/or acting as a miracle centre should be derecognised for a number of years. The duration will be determined by the examination body;
“If any school/CBT centre Is derecognised by any examination body, other sister examination bodies should follow suit and derecognise the same school/CBT centre for the same number of years to run concurrently. This will send a very strong signal to operators of these miracle centres;
“Student(s) involved In examination malpractice should be barred from sitting for any external examinations in Nigeria such as those conducted by WAEC, NECO, NASTEB, etc, for three years using the instrumentality of NIN. Such a stringent measure will serve as a deterrent to other students and parents.
“This directive ts also in accordance with Section 16(2) of the Examination Malpractices Act, which states: “An examination body may, in the exercise of its powers under this section, circulate the name of an offending candidate, supervisor, Invigilator, official, school, or examination centre to other examination bodies, which may impose similar punishment.”
“This is for the information of the general public particularly candidates and their parents,” the statement said.