The Dean of the School of Environmental Studies, Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH), Adesina Aladeloba, has introduced a N1 million annual award to encourage students to uphold academic integrity and discourage examination malpractice.
The initiative, known as the War Against Examination Crime (WAEC) Award, recognises departments whose students complete an academic session without recorded cases of examination malpractice.
Aladeloba explained that the acronym used for the initiative is unrelated to the West African Examinations Council, which also uses the abbreviation WAEC.
He said the maiden edition of the award was held on June 24 after students’ conduct had been assessed across two semesters.
According to him, any department whose students were not reported to the School Examination Malpractice Investigation Committee during the assessment period automatically qualified for consideration.
The first edition produced two winning departments out of the seven departments in the school: Architecture and Transport Planning and Management.
The two departments shared the N1 million prize, which was presented to their respective students’ associations rather than their heads of department.
Aladeloba said the decision to present the award to students was deliberate, as the initiative was designed to encourage students to take responsibility for maintaining integrity during examinations.
He said the programme was conceived as a preventive approach to examination malpractice, rather than relying solely on punishment after offences had been committed.
“The idea is to prevent examination malpractice rather than focus only on punishment. If there are no cases, the committee will have little or no work to do,” he said.
The dean warned that examination malpractice could have consequences beyond the academic environment, particularly when individuals obtain professional qualifications without acquiring the knowledge and competence required to practise safely.
He cited fields such as medicine, engineering and construction, where inadequate competence could have serious consequences for members of the public.
Aladeloba also linked the persistence of examination malpractice to the intense pressure placed on academic qualifications, arguing that greater emphasis should be placed on competence, practical skills and the ability to create value.
He called for stronger action against operators of so-called “miracle centres”, urging relevant government agencies to investigate and prosecute those involved in examination-related fraud.
The dean welcomed the Federal Government’s increasing focus on skills acquisition and vocational education, describing the development as important to reducing overdependence on certificates.
He said the award had already begun to generate healthy competition among departments, with students encouraging one another to maintain proper conduct during examinations in pursuit of the recognition.
Aladeloba expressed hope that similar preventive initiatives could be adopted by other tertiary institutions as part of broader efforts to strengthen academic integrity and reduce examination malpractice in Nigeria.
