Sex-for-mark trade in our institutions of higher learning

sexExamination malpractice is unarguably one of the biggest threats to education in Nigeria. Poverty and underfunding are also significant issues. But perhaps, one underestimated issue is that of lecturers in higher institutions trading romance for marks.

Of course, it is no news as there have been several cases of unserious students, usually females, complaining of the bias in the grading system whereby certain students who go hang out with lecturers, score higher than their hardworking colleagues. It has become a recurring decimal in our higher institutions because there have been no deterrents.

In some other cases, it is the lecturers that make the advances and sexually harass the students. These occurrences affect the psychology of students and their approach to learning. Some students, especially the male, are sometimes discouraged to study hard because such efforts are not adequately rewarded while they see their lazy colleagues miraculously acing courses.

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For uncompromising ladies, there is also the persecution they face when they refuse to pander to the sexual demands of these shameless lecturers.

They are threatened with failure or worse. Victims of sexual assaults also experience trauma and a bad feeling of being used against their consent.

In foreign campuses, the school managements mete out heavy sanctions on lecturers caught in such mess. A professor in the University of California found guilty of sexual misbehaviour against students was barred from closed-door, one-on-one meetings with students in his office, was told not to have romantic relationships with students in his office, he paid a fine and took a one-quarter suspension”.

Similarly, school managements should rise to action. Rules should be made restraining female students from meeting male lecturers in public places and not in offices. Lecturers involved in such acts should be reported to higher authorities while the management guarantees total security for those who come forward to report.

Schools are citadels of learning and should be strictly so. Students are not supposed to be sex objects. It is the sole responsibility of the school to make learning conducive and this takes into account both physical and psychological aspects. Enough is enough.

Muyiwa Adeyemo,

Ibadan.