Explorative Study on the Causes and Effects of Examination Malpractice among Secondary School Students in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, Nigeria.

Abstract

The study investigated the causes and effects of examination malpractice among secondary school students in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, Nigeria. Five objectives and five null hypotheses guided the study. The survey design was adopted for the study. The researcher selected 100 students and 50 teachers from each of the six area councils in FCT which constituted the sample for the study. Four rating scale structured questionnaire titled causes and effects of examination malpractice questionnaire (CEEMQ) was used for data collection. Validity of the instrument was determined by experts in Education. Test re-rest method was used to establish the reliability of the instrument which gave coefficient value of 0.89. The researchers and six research assistants personally distributed the instrument. Data collected were coded into Statistical Package of Social Sciences which was used to run Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMC) into the test null hypotheses one, two and three while chi-square was used to determine null hypotheses four and five. All the null hypotheses were tested at significant level of 0.05. The result revealed, among others, that teachers, peers and students contributed to examination malpractices among students in secondary schools in Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria. Consequently, this affected class attendance and study habit of the students. In view of these, it was recommended, among others, that counselling units of schools should help to improve the moral upbringing of students and teachers through enlightenment campaigns. In addition, parents should avoid relocating their children to schools known for examination malpractice