FG orders crackdown on exam ‘miracle centres’ | Erring students to get 3-year ban

The federal government has issued a directive mandating examination bodies to clamp down on “miracle centres”.

Miracle centres, so-called in local parlance, are facilities notorious for aiding examination malpractice at the secondary school level.

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), in a statement on Tuesday, said Tunji Alausa, the minister of education, has ordered a crackdown on schools or computer-based test centres that conduct mass malpractice.

The new policy, JAMB’s communications advisor Fabian Benjamin said, holds that such centres would be derecognised for some years, as determined by the relevant examination body.

Benjamin said other examination bodies (including WAEC, NECO, and NABTEB) are to replicate any such sanctions concurrently on the same centres.

“This will send a very strong signal to operators of these miracle centres,” JAMB’s statement reads in part.

In addition to institutional sanctions, any student found guilty of examination malpractice are to face a three-year ban from participating in external exams.

JAMB said this will be enforced using the candidate’s national identification number.

“This directive is also in accordance with Section 16(2) of the Examination Malpractices Act,” the board said, citing the provision that allows examination bodies to circulate names of offenders for cross-body sanctions.

The policy, JAMB said, aims to curb growing examination malpractice and restore integrity to Nigeria’s secondary education system.

JAMB said the directive takes effect immediately and called on the public, especially parents and students, to take note.