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Education officials in Anambra, Enugu and Ebonyi states say reforms introduced by their governments are reducing the activities of so-called “miracle centres”, schools or examination venues where candidates are allegedly assisted to cheat in public examinations.
The reforms, which include stricter registration procedures, unscheduled monitoring and external examination oversight, have made it more difficult for such centres to operate, stakeholders told the News Agency of Nigeria.
Enugu: Registration verification, monitoring
In Enugu State, the executive chairman of the post-primary schools management board, Rev. Fr Hilary Mgbodile, said the state had implemented a class-list verification system to prevent students from migrating to miracle centres for examinations.
“To stop this migration, we capture the class list from SS2 and do class-list verification to make sure you must write your examination where you did your SS2,” Mgbodile said.
The state has also introduced external examination monitors, provided with food and other necessities to reduce the temptation of accepting bribes.
According to Mgbodile, schools cannot register candidates for external examinations without obtaining approved lists from the Ministry of Education and the external examination screening committee.
Anambra: Unscheduled monitoring, discipline
In Anambra, Commissioner for Education Dr Ekene Ogugua said the government had addressed school principals on the need to enforce discipline and uphold examination standards.
Ogugua said he had also conducted unscheduled monitoring visits to schools during the recently concluded NECO examinations.
“Gov. Chukwuma Soludo’s administration is determined to eliminate practices that turn public or private schools into ‘miracle centres’ where candidates engage in examination malpractice,” Ogugua said.
“Whoever cannot align with the vision of this administration will be relieved of their duties,” he added.
Mrs Hope Ezeani, Chairperson of the All Nigeria Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools in Anambra, pledged the support of principals for the government’s reforms.
The Executive Secretary of the Anambra State Post-Primary Schools Service Commission, Benedine Anagor, said there had been no reported cases of “miracle centres” or withheld WAEC and NECO results in public schools in the state.
Ebonyi: Officials call for collective action
In Ebonyi, the Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Board, Dr Livinus Ezeuwa, described examination malpractice as a “social cankerworm” requiring collective action from government, parents and school administrators.
He said miracle centres were mostly found in private schools, particularly in rural areas.
Area Inspector of Education for Ikwo Local Government Area, Sunday Nweke, attributed examination malpractice to poor reading culture and a lack of value for knowledge.
Teachers call for stronger sanctions
Some teachers in Anambra called for stronger sanctions and sustained monitoring to end the operation of miracle centres.
Mrs Prisca Chimezie, a mathematics teacher, said some parents became desperate when their children performed poorly and sought schools where they believed candidates could obtain results through malpractice.
“Some parents are more concerned about certificates than the knowledge their children acquire,” she said.
“This trend is having serious negative effects on the younger students coming behind them.
“Some students are beginning to lose interest in studying because they see others getting excellent examination results without putting in the necessary effort.”
Simon Onyekachi, Chairman of ANCOPSS in Nsukka Local Government Area, identified the leakage of examination question papers as a key reason miracle centres thrived.
“Miracle centres thrive because the operators of the centres pay huge amount of money to insiders in WAEC and NECO or examination supervisors and invigilators to leak examination questions to them,” he said.
“We all know that examination paper leak or expo is about unauthorised disclosure or distribution of exam question papers before the scheduled exam time.”
He recommended withdrawing the licences of any school involved in malpractice and prosecuting principals and officials found guilty.
“Products of miracle centres who make unmerited good WAEC and NECO results expose themselves in higher institutions or places of employment where they cannot defend their good results.
“Government can clampdown on miracle centres by withdrawing licence of any school involved in the crime as well as prosecuting principals and officials of WAEC and NECO found guilty,” he said.
Call for CBT adoption
Several stakeholders advocated for the adoption of Computer-Based Tests (CBT) for WAEC and NECO examinations.
Ben Edeh, a school administrator, said the success of CBT in the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board examinations had significantly reduced malpractice compared with the past.
“The success recorded with JAMB showed that extending CBT to WASSCE, NECO and other major examinations could help eliminate or significantly reduce miracle centres,” Edeh said.
Ann Ugwu, a former supervisor of education in Nsukka Local Government Area, noted that miracle centres charged between N100,000 and N120,000 for registration, compared with the official WAEC fee of N27,000 and NECO fee of N30,000.
“Is it not parents that provide their children with this huge amount of money to register in miracle centres so that they will be given ‘expo’ to pass very well?” she asked.
