Abstract:

Skills acquired and levels of discipline are the resultant effects of a good educational system. The Nigerian educational system and indeed educational systems in developing nations of the world are said to have been bedeviled by an ugly monster referred to as “Examination Malpractices”. The paper sought to find out the effect examination malpractices have on the skills and discipline of students, especially at the secondary school levels. The paper examined secondary schools across the southern part of Nigeria using 50 secondary schools as reference points and 200 respondents. The schools were randomly selected from the 6 states that make up south-south Nigeria. Each state has 10 schools as point of focus. The research instrument was a 4-point Likert-type scale questionnaire entitled “Effect of Examination Malpractices on Skills and Discipline of Secondary School Students in Nigeria" (EEMSDWSSSN) was developed. The questionnaire consists of 2 sections – A and B. Section A had a total of 5 questions that had bearing on demographic variables of respondents while Section B consisted of 20 questions that sought to provide respondents’ view to the issues at stake. The paper comprises of 3 research questions as follows.
(1) What effect does examination malpractice have on acquired skills of secondary school graduates?
(2) How has examination malpractice influenced the level of discipline in Nigerian secondary schools?
(3) What are the major causes of examination malpractices among secondary school students in Nigerian secondary schools?

The questions raised were subjected to hypothetical tests to help resolve the issues in line with the following research hypotheses:
(i) Examination malpractices have no significant effect on the skills acquired by students of Nigerian secondary schools.
(ii) Examination malpractices have no significant influence on level of discipline in Nigerian secondary schools. The research instrument was analyzed using simple percentages and the following was found: The hypotheses which stated that there is no significant relationship between examination malpractices and the level of skills acquired by students was rejected and the alternate was accept. The result of the analysis revealed that examination malpractices has a great influence on the level discipline and It was noted that recourse to malpractices in examination has reduced the level of discipline and therefore enhanced indiscipline in the schools. Teachers’ inability to cover prescribed syllabus as a result of several factors, poor infrastructural facilities, laboratories and teaching materials were some of the stated causes of examination malpractices in the schools.

Consequent upon the results above, the paper concluded and made the following recommendations; The key to sustainable development is anchored on a sound educational system, therefore the paper recommends that the government, donor agencies and all stakeholders should ensure that examination malpractices is reduced to the barest minimum by developing strategies such as ”cubicle system” of examination taking. There should be proper funding to help provide facilities and equipment for skill acquisition and proper educational development.