Protect the integrity of our exams system

Candidates across the country yesterday began their Uganda Certificate of Education examinations amid fears by the Uganda National Examination Board (Uneb), the examining body, of some malpractices.

Uneb executive secretary Daniel Odongo last week said some teachers were selling fake Physics Paper I and II, Chemistry Paper I and II, and Mathematics papers at Shs2 million for each set.

Yet during the same period last year, images of O-Level Biology, Chemistry, Principles of Agriculture, Commerce, and Christian Religious Education leaked examination papers littered social media platforms hours before candidates entered the examination rooms.

And indeed, an analysis of the exam results early this year by this newspaper indicated that students scored better in the papers that had leaked.

Overtime, examinations have emerged as the easiest or most practical way of assessing one’s scope of knowledge. Similarly, because many employees today depend on certificates as the key to employment, many people see a certificate with good grades as a clear passage to a job.

The result of this is rampant exam malpractice. Important to note also is that malpractice may be due to schools’ competition for attention, inadequate preparation of candidates, and laziness among teachers. Uneb lists some forms of exam malpractice as external assistance, impersonation, collusion, copying, among others.

The downside of this vice, however, is that many of those who sit for the exams without external aid, work at a disadvantage yet the marking system does not take this into account. Eventually, they will think they are less intelligent than the rest of those who pass with ‘flying colours’.

More so, the education system and the society will suffer the effects of examination malpractice in the long run as those involved in such schemes will pass on the vice should they become teachers, parents or education officials in future. They will think that to excel in exams, one must cheat their way because they do not know any other means. The practice may not end in exams. It may cascade to other professions and their daily lives.

In a country where the sieve is largely academic-based, the examination body and all stakeholders need to oversee a smooth examination process at all costs to ensure a level playing field for all candidates.

Also, avoiding the malpractices will serve to boost the importance of exams and preserve the integrity of certificates. If we must be judged through a uniform lens, then we must play to the rules of the game uniformly.

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