‘Why students are under pressure to cheat in exams’

THE dean, School of Postgraduate Studies, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Professor Suleiman Aruwa, has revealed that most students in tertiary institutions are under pressure to cheat in examinations because of poor preparation.

He, however, did not agree with those who believe that the quality of education is fast declining in Nigeria.

Professor Aruwa spoke at the 20th anniversary and reunion of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Accounting Class ‘97, which was held at the Top Rank Hotel, Utako, Abuja.

Aruwa said the major challenge was the infrastructure for teaching and learning as well as lack of motivation for teachers to deliver effectively on the job.

“In a way, what is declining is motivation for those who are delivering on the curriculum. There is also the challenge of infrastructure. I can recall that when I was in school, it was not difficult to have textbooks on all the subjects. But today, students cannot afford them,” he said.

He added that education is a social service and should not be left for those who can survive the cost, saying the cost of educating a child in private universities in the country is highly prohibitive.

Aruwa said it was an irony that while people complained about poor quality of graduates from public schools, private universities rely on 50 percent of teachers from public schools to deliver on their mandate.

“The lecturers do better when they go to private institutions more than their primary place of assignment because of better incentives. Government can do better by making education functional,” he said.

He noted that there was the need to review the country’s university curriculum so as to encourage entrepreneurial orientation where people should be able to create jobs and wealth from what they have read rather than coming out looking for non-existing white collar job.

He said: “Today, if you deliver the curriculum without technology, you cannot make impact because we are in the era when people would want to sit at home and interact with their lecturers; people want to sit at home and engage virtual resources; people don’t want to see physical textbooks in the libraries again. These things are not there.

“The second thing is power. When you go to many schools, you will not see light for them to go for preparatory classes. So, at the end of the day, what you see is that they are under pressure to cheat in the exam hall.”

The chairman of the ABU ‘Accounting Class 1997’, Mr Kayode Ajiga, while calling on alumni of various universities in the country to contribute to their alma mater, said his colleagues had over the years supported the development of ABU, Zaria.