Perceived Strategies for Curbing Examination Malpractice Among Secondary School Students in Nigeria

Abstract

Aims: The study examined perceived strategies for curbing examination malpractice among secondary school students in Nigeria. Study Design: The design adopted for this study is descriptive survey design. Place and Duration of Study: The target population are 1182 junior secondary students identified to be verbally victimized. The duration is between June 2021 and August 2021. Methodology: The target population for the study comprised 398,275 senior secondary school teachers in Nigeria (Fact sheet: Research Statistics and Planning Unit of the Ministry of Education, Awka, 2021). The sample for the study was drawn from the accessible population of 6342 secondary school teachers in six education zones of the state namely Aguata, Awka, Nnewi, Ogidi, Onitsha and Otuocha. The sample for the study was drawn using the proportionate stratified sampling technique. The subjects were stratified based on the educations and further the simple random sampling of lucky dip was used to select 634 (372 experienced and 262 less experienced) secondary school teachers for inclusion in the study. The instrument was structured toa 4-point response option of Strongly Agree (4), Agree (3), Disagree (2) and Strongly Disagree (1). The instrument was validated by two experts, and the reliability of the instrument was established using Cronbach alpha method with the reliability coefficients 0.78, 0.80 and 0.81. Arithmetic mean was used to answer the research questions, standard deviation was used to determine the homogeneity or heterogeneity of the respondents’ ratings. On the other hand, the t-test for independent sample was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Results: At 0.05 level of significance, the cluster mean of the respondents rating was 3.28 This mean score indicates that teachers agreed that preventive strategies curbs examination malpractices among secondary school students. The cluster mean obtained was 2.73. This indicates that the respondents agreed to corrective strategies for curbing examination malpractice among secondary school students. The cluster mean obtained was 2.73. This indicates that the respondents agreed to corrective strategies for curbing examination malpractice among secondary school students. Data reported relating to hypotheses 1 reveals that the significant value is greater than the alpha value 0.05, hence there is no significant difference in the mean rating of teachers on preventive strategies for curbing examination malpractice among secondary school students in Nigeria based on years of experience (0-5 years and 6 years and above). Data reported relating to hypotheses 2 shows that there is a significant difference in the mean rating of teachers on corrective strategies for curbing examination malpractice among secondary school student in Nigeria based on years of experience (0-5 years of experience and 6 years and above). Similarly, data presented relating to hypotheses 3 revealed that the significant value is greater than the alpha value 0.05, this means that there is no significant difference in the mean rating of teachers on motivational strategies for curbing examination malpractice among secondary school student in Nigeria based on years of experience (0-5 years and 6 years and above). Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, teachers agreed that preventive strategies, corrective strategies, and the respondents also agreed to motivational strategies for curbing examination malpractice among secondary school students. There is no significant difference in the mean rating of teachers on preventive strategies, while there is a significant difference in the mean rating of teachers on corrective strategies for curbing examination malpractice. Finally, there is no significant difference in the mean rating of teachers on motivational strategies for curbing examination malpractice among secondary school student in Nigeria based on years of experience (0-5 years and 6 years and above).