- Hiding chips inside hair
Some mischievous female candidates smuggle pieces of paper bearing answers — commonly known as chips — into the examination hall by hiding the chips in their weave-on or wig. The unsuspecting exam supervisor hardly suspects anything is amiss when the female candidate begins to scratch her hair.
“They (the candidates) would scratch their hair and after a few seconds, the chips would appear from underneath the hair,” says Edidiong Udofia, a recent secondary school graduate.
2. Bubble gum wrappers
What a cheating candidate does in this method is to purchase a substantial amount of bubble gum, empty all of it, write the answers on the pieces of paper used to wrap the gum and then repackage it. An unsuspecting invigilator will not know that the bubble gum wrappers, in fact, are chips. Tobi Akinyede, now an undergraduate, recalls this method which she witnessed while in secondary school.
Akinyede said, “Bubble gum is usually not prohibited in the exam hall, and when the invigilator sees a candidate with it, they assume the person needs it to concentrate or maybe to prevent falling asleep in the hall.”
3. Mobile phones
An increasingly common technique of cheating in exam halls is the use of mobile devices. In the past, candidates would sneak a phone into the exam hall by concealing it in their underwear or socks. But a newer approach that has been noted involves dismantling the device and hiding the bits under various clothing items. It is one of the techniques which exam bodies, including the West African Examination Council, have started devising means to tackle.
4. Finger-coding
For ill-intentioned candidates who are not brave enough to sneak in chips or mobile devices, it is common to resort to non-verbal communication with other candidates during exams. This approach which is handy especially during multiple-choice exams, is a form of encryption which makes use of the fingers. Edet Ekpo, a senior secondary school pupil, noted that the method involves a group of candidates, prior to a paper, agreeing on which finger represents what option. He said, “Holding up a thumb could represent option A; holding up both a thumb and an index finger could represent option B, and so on.
5. Math sets, four-figure tables
In using this method, candidates, especially during science-based papers, commonly take advantage of the need for materials, such as sets of mathematical instruments and four-figure tables, to cheat. It is during the excuse of bringing in the mathematical instruments that chips find their way into the exam venue with relative ease.
Ojijeogu, the WAEC spokesperson, agrees this method is commonplace. He said during the 2014 November/December exams, the council introduced its official math sets for candidates.
“Candidates are not allowed to bring in their personal math sets and calculators. As they register for the exams, part of the payment is for the purchase of the instruments, which they are allowed to take away after the exams. The calculators are used in place of four-figure tables. These instruments are all transparent and candidates cannot hide papers in them,” he said.
6. Writing on clothing
This technique appears to be gaining popularity. It involves writing on socks, boxers, brassieres, handkerchiefs, belts, singlets, berets, wristwatches, rubber bracelets, and a host of others. A more advanced form of this technique involves sewing chips into the collars and hems of clothes. The contrabands often go unnoticed as invigilators frisk candidates prior to their papers.
Akinyemi Lawani, a Mass Communications student who completed his secondary education in 2014, narrates his experience regarding this method: “A number of candidates at my centre wrote answers on their uniforms. A particular girl wrote on her socks and on the inside of her skirt. She kept turning it over to copy answers and she was never caught.”
7. Writing on body parts, plasters
WatchThis is one form of exam malpractice that has transcended time and generation. It is one of the most popular methods of cheating in exam halls in Nigeria.
A civil servant with a 23-year in the education sector, Raymond Cyril (not real name), narrated that the act of writing answers on body parts ranged from the basic (palms and thighs) to the bizarre (soles of the feet).
He said, “I caught a girl once who had written half of her textbook on her laps and the portion of her arms covered by her sleeves.”
8. Taping chips to inner thighs
Related to writing on body parts is the fastening of chips onto inner thighs by some desperate candidates. Cyril explains it better: “As a supervisor in Ikirun, Osun State, I saw some girls who prepared the answers and then attached it to their inner thighs using cello tape. In another instance, a piece of plaster was used to appear as if the lady had an injury. It was later discovered that she had written answers underneath the plaster.”
9. Sexual favours
Offering and demanding sexual favours in the examination hall also appears to be a new way of soliciting and receiving answers.
A 2014 WAEC candidate, who gave her name simply as Kate, gave an account of what transpired in her centre: “In my school last year, there were two external candidates sitting together — a boy and a girl. During a paper, the boy had chips and the girl asked for it, but he refused to give her unless she rubbed his private part, which she did.”
10. Impersonation
One punishable offence during examinations is sitting for another candidate. It is often called ‘mercenary.’ During major papers such as English and Mathematics, WAEC has noted a high rate of impersonation. The solution to the increasing rate of impersonation, WAEC posits, lies in biometric technology.
Ojijeogu said, “We are always on the lookout for impersonators. Lately, during English and Mathematics papers, there have been more vacant seats. The reason is that the people who may have planned to sit examinations on behalf of the true candidates cannot come into the hall.
“We achieved this using biometrics. We have laptops for taking attendance before the candidates enter the examination hall. The fingerprint must correspond with that of the candidate that was registered. If it doesn’t match, the candidate will be asked to go out. The biometric technology was introduced during the May/June 2013 WAEC Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations.
“Even now, our certificates bear a feature called Quick Response Code. If someone succeeded in impersonating another person and he wrote the exam, that certificate would bear the features of the person who registered for it, not the impersonator. We have laptops, handheld devices and photo books to prevent impersonation.”
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