Examination Malpractice in Private schools in Uganda

Examination Malpractices in Private schools in Uganda

Introduction 

Examination Malpractice is defined as any deliberate act of wrong doing, contrary to the rules of examinations designed to give a candidate an unfair advantage or able frequently, to place a candidate at a disadvantage. Malpractice therefore introduces equities into the examination system. In some examinations, the level of malpractice is so high that it seriously undermines the credibility of the examination system.

It is claimed that private schools in Uganda engage in examination malpractices because getting good results is a way of advertising their schools to potential students. It is argued that some private schools get involved in this vice because they are business ventures seeking to make more money. Apparently some private schools are ready to cheat and achieve success at all cost. The perception of students in faith-based private schools shows a significantly higher level of opposition to cheating in examination compared to non-faith or secular based private schools. Faith based private school population is less likely to cheat on the examination compared to non-faith-based private schools that are strongly disposed to it.
A very high proportion of students in non-faith basedprivate schools feel examination malpractice is justified and should be taken as a normal thing as many teachers, examination venue, parents, and society at large encourage it. The proportion of students in secular private schools who reported that only those who cheat obtain high scores in internal and external examinations was 72% while the proportion that made the same claim in faith-based private schools was only 22%.
With regards to teacher qualification, it was discovered that 82% of students in secular private schools with no qualified teachers reported that only people who cheat have high scores in internal and external examinations compared to 48% of those with qualified teachers. Also, 40% of students in faithbased private schools with no qualified teachers reported the same compared to 14 % of those with qualified teachers. A very high proportions (95%) of students in faith based private schools with qualified teachers reported they were ready to join a special squad to fight against examination malpractice compared to 72% of those with no qualified teachers. Also, 37% of students in secular private schools with qualified teachers reported the same willingness to join the squad compared to 18% of students with no qualified teachers. Thus, the availability of qualified teachers in faith-based and secular private schools appears to influence the perception of lower grade students regarding examination malpractice.

 

Forms of Examination Malpractice

The following are some identified forms of examinations malpractice:         

-          Leakage: This means that the content of examination or part of it is disclosed prior to taking the examination.

-          Impersonation: An individual who is not registered as a candidate takes the place of one that is registered.

-          External Assistance: Individuals who are not examination candidates giving unauthorized assistance to candidates. Usually this involves invigilators (exam room supervisors) dictating answers, writing answers on the black boards, calculating sheets of worked out answers during the course of the examinations or acting as couriers of materials into the examination center. In some instance entering helpers here used phones or broadcast answers.

-          Smuggling of foreign materials: This is perhaps the most common form of malpractice. It relates to the introduction of unauthorized materials (e.g. note books, crib notes, charts and answers) into the examination hall. Material is frequently smuggled in pants, shoes, hems and bras or information is written on parts of the body.

-          Copying: Reproduction of another candidate work with or without permissions.

-          Collusion: Unauthorized passing of information between candidates usually by exchanging notes or scripts.

-          Intimidation: Examinations official including supervisors and makers of papers are physically threatened. Usually involves people seeking support for individual candidates. Candidates here also placed weapons in clear view of supervisors to intimidate them. Substitution of scripts, replacing answer sheets handed out during the course of examination. Usually involves examination office officials, invigilators and some teachers working outside the examination room.

-          Improper Assignment: Deliberate placing of candidate in centers under the supervising of corrupt officials. This is perpetrated by examination officers and examination officials of ministries of Education and representatives of examination bodies.

-          Ghost Centers: Fictitious examination centers. This is established by corrupt examination officials where candidates can complete the examination with the support of helpers and without supervision.

-          Makers Malpractice: Deliberate alteration of marks designed to inflate or deflate a candidate’s original mark. This can be initiated by examination officials, by candidates (making contract with the makers) or making contracts with the candidates.

-          Awards and Certification: Deliberate alteration of. In the past usually confined to examinations officials but in more recent years include printers and candidates with high level of skills in technology.   

Causes of Examination Malpractice

            The idea that, in Uganda, Education certificate is most important than the skills to deliver is what prompted most students into malpractice so as to have the required certificate to be there. Therefore, the following could be advanced as reasons why we have examination malpractice in our educational system:

-          High Stakes of Examinations: Success in an examination can have profound, immediate and long term impact on a candidate’s life. In Uganda, examination success and secondary school graduation represents the whole avenue for poor students to secure a non menial job. Many parents are seen to resort to various corrupt practices to ensure that there children “PASS” the public examination.

-          Teacher and School Status: In many instance, teachers and school reputations depends on the success of students in public examinations, this is particularly true where official or un-official school position in external examinations are published. There is also the problem of prizes awarded to wining schools or individual subject teachers which triggers malpractice from both school administrators and teachers.

-          Personality Disposition: Some students are more prone to cheating than others, because they are either lazy or dubious.

-          Desire of some parents to place their children: Some parents would blindly want their children to get into lucrative courses like medicine, accountancy, etc. as such would collide with any person who can at all cost get their children the required credits.

-          Inadequate School Facilities and Teachers: Textbooks shortages, inadequate teacher training, teacher absence from work, teacher lacking subject matter competency, strikes and frequent schools closure are common features of education in Uganda. Parents and students may perceive conditions of learning to be so inadequate that they have little option than the resort to unfair means to increase the likelihood that the student will pass the examination.

-          Inadequacies of the Examinations: Where the standard aimed at is too high or obscure, teachers and students may lose confidence in their abilities to master the material. In such instance, students may resort to smuggling materials such as textbooks and notes in the examinations room.

-          Location of Examination Centers: Remote centers tend to receive materials in advance, thus increasing the opportunity of gaining access to examination papers. Due to distance or remoteness of the centers, proper supervision cannot be done as such any corrupt practice can be committed.

-          Low Salary Levels: Salary levels of teachers, examination officials and examination supervisors are frequently below the poverty line. In such instance bribes from parents may probe irrestible.

-          Respect for Certificate: The society regards possession of certificate as Alfa and Omega where an individual is only recognized if he possesses a certain certificate built professionals skills are not recognized.

-          Threats and Intimidation from Parents: Parents especially from private schools and specialized schools, threaten proprietors of withdrawal of children or closure of schools if their children do not make excellent results.

-          Quota system: Quota system are always applied to determine pass rate, where students perceive that success is independent on the number of available places rather than on attaining a given level of performance they may conclude that success is due to factor beyond their control. They may feel that success cannot be guaranteed by hard work and become poorly motivated. They are poorly prepared for examination; they may see little alternative to resorting to malpractice.

The Consequences of Examination Malpractice

The consequences of examination malpractice both to education and the society will be catastrophic in the long run candidates/students who would ordinarily be working hard to pass examination will now depend on quack arrangement. Since such arrangements rarely failed. Then the fraud or malpractice may eventually be seen as a way of academic exercise. The candidates produced in this manner will grow into adults and teachers or examinations officials who will not see anything wrong with such sophisticated and high class examination fraud thus defeating the goals of education by turning out certificated illiterates.

Examination malpractice increases lack of confidence among students. Students who would have ordinarily passed an examination feel disappointed and loss of confidence when less intelligent ones perform better than them through cheating, thus leading to loss of confidence in themselves and in the examination and the system at large.

Examinations malpractice may lure some students into other areas of misconducts such as prostitutions and or armed robbery, female students who lack money to fund external assistance or pay for scores may take prostitution while male may as well take stealing or armed robbery in a bid to make money to pay for scores.

Other general effects of examinations malpractice can be summarized as follows:

-          The products of examinations malpractice are square pegs in round holes. They lack the required knowledge and experience to carry out their assignment and professional duties effectively.

-          Examinations malpractice produce candidates with low moral and academic values.

-          The products of examination malpractice always end up with unfulfilled dreams in their chosen career

-          Examinations malpractice is a negative orientation for future leaders who may end up being fraudulent and corrupt in their various offices.

-          Anyone who engages in examinations malpractice is building on a false foundation which can led to serious professional errors.

The causes could be attributed to the behavior of examiners, parents, schools administration and system. The consequences could be catastrophic to both education system would turn out the society certificated illiterates. There is need for a shared commitment to fight examination fraud because at the end of the day it has or is backfired on the nation’s general service delivery and sometimes on our individual lives and communities.

Suggestions

1. Sound educational policy should be put in place with de-emphasis on the supremacy of certificates over skills and professional competence.

2. Appointment of supervisors of proven integrity and who are independent of the examinations centers.

3. The remuneration of invigilators and supervisors should be attractable that would not allow one to think of taking bribe to add to his earnings.The invigilation and supervisory committee of the examination board should include the private schools stakeholders because both have different interests and experiences at a particular time.

4. Ensure that only formally registered candidates sit for the examination.

5. Religious and community leaders should be used to intervene on parents who insist on their children getting the best result without genuine efforts for it.

6. Prohibit the use of electronic devices including cellular phones and IPADS

7. School teachers should be motivated and remunerated adequately and learning environment made friendly so that they can do their work satisfactorily and cover the syllabus before examinations. Monitoring and Evaluation of national schools syllabus is needed per each candidate school.

8. There should frequent unannounced random visits by officials of examination centers and erring centers should be punished.

9. The rigidity and timing of examinations should be reviewed in a such a way that when a student complained genuinely that he cannot write an examination another time suitable should be organized for him, this will eliminate the phobia of failure which may result in malpractice.

10.There should be a special commission and squad to fight examination malpractice be set up by private schools with students as active members. The commission and squad if formed would assist in enlightening students, parents, and the society on the ills of examination malpractice and possibly how to overcome them.

Uganda National Association of Private Schools and Institutions

P.O.Box 29324 Kampala, Uganda, Email: unaph22@yahoo.com , www.unapsi.org

                                                        www.ugandaprivateschools.blogspot.com

The State of Private School Teachers in Uganda

The State of Private School Teachers in Uganda

Introduction

Uganda National Association of Private Schools and Institutions (UNAPSI) has taken close observation about the issues and challenges affecting private school teachers in Uganda.  Private schools have grown at a rapid rate in Uganda. According to recent estimates in Uganda, 27% of schools at primary level and 66% of schools at secondary level are private; private school enrolment is estimated at 16% in primary schools and 51% in secondary schools. Uganda has 41 Universities where 34 of these are privately run. There are 141 tertiary institutions and 86 of these are privately run. Student enrolment in higher institutions is estimated to be 157,000 students in universities of which 39% (60,000) are in the 31 private universities. Attendance in these schools is not limited to the non-poor or children in urban areas. A large number of children belonging to poor households study in private schools which charge low fees; nearly 40% of villages in Uganda have access to a private school within the village itself. It is now obvious that government alone cannot single handedly satisfy the educational needs. This is partly the reason that has led to the emergence of private schools, across the country. These schools cut across nursery, primary and secondary schools, and more recently have been extended to private universities. Their complementary role in the achievement of the nation‘s educational objectives can hardly be overemphasized. It should however be noted that the success of any educational system whether private or public to a large extent is dependent on the adequacy and commitment of its teaching staff. These private unaided schools are owned and funded privately with no state support. For purposes of recognition, they have to ensure adequate pupil-teacher ratio, conform to certain qualifications regarding recruitment of principal and teachers and assure their financial viability. However, all management decisions are taken by the school, including recruitment procedures and teacher salaries. They frame their own admission rules and fee structure for students. These schools are growing as small and medium scale business houses, making extra profits, but they do not make the required payment to the teachers. While the term small school‘ can be defined in many ways, common measures refer to pupil enrolment, the number of teachers and the number of classrooms. An exploration of data available from the country‘s District Education Office reveals that approximately 78% of primary schools in Uganda had three or fewer teachers to attend to all grade levels, and more than 55% had 100 or fewer students. However, because of poor quality of public education, 27% of Ugandan children are privately educated. While there has been an overall improvement in enrolment at the primary level in the country during, a study has reported that enrolment in private schools has been better than the government ones. In the present scenario, private schools have blanket protection from any potential local political policy or movement to redress teacher‘s grievances and teachers perceived to be hostile to private interests are dismissed at will. They enter the institutions at the mercy of someone; they quit at the fury of some other. The vicious cycle of silent and never reported violence continues. Private teachers especially those who work in small privately owned schools are vulnerable to lack of job security and hostile and stringent work environment at work place. Such an oppressive state of affairs has lead to the job dissatisfaction, depression, and lack of interest in work and sense of alienation among most of the teachers working mostly in small private schools. As per experiences and observations, they are beset with myriad of issues today which even the state has ignored. Besides exploitation, overwork, minimum wages, discrimination in salaries and lack of mental satisfaction and happiness at work place are some pressing problems of such school teachers though such problems vary from institution to institution and cannot be generalized for all the privately owned educational institutions at any place of the country.

The Government exercises very little regulatory authority over most functions of its districts, especially with respect to private education policy. As a result, there is tremendous socioeconomic, cultural, and political variation within the states also.

School teachers‘salaries are often perceived to be lower than those of other professionals; this perception is especially strong among teachers. This affects the teachers‘ motivation to educate (OECD 2009; Figlio and Kenny 2006; Ortega 2010, Player 2009, Heutel 2009, Loeb and Page, 2000); causes good teachers to leave the profession (Imazeki 2005; Harris and Adams, 2007; Scafidi et al., 2007); and good students to avoid choosing an education major in college. These in turn would produce negative effects in students‘ learning. To improve the quality of education it is essential to pay special attention to teachers and to implement policies to attract, motivate and retain the most talented individuals in the profession. Uganda National Association of Private Schools and Institutions (UNAPSI), on its part, accept there is a problem. ―It is unfortunate that we are unable to attract bright minds, the private training institutes are of poor quality and the government-run ones lack infrastructure. UNAPSI, however, has plans of reviving private education colleges which will involve setting up a committee that inspects training institutes.

It is rightly said that; a good teacher explains, a superior teacher demonstrates and a great teacher inspiresand so it is expected of all teachers to have certain qualities like content mastery, love for profession, and love for children. Research studies shows that (a) private schools have higher teacher attendance and activity compared to government schools (b) private school teachers get a fraction of the salary of government school teachers, and (c) private schools have smaller class sizes.

In a private school, the teachers are accountable to the authorities (who can fire them), and, the parents (who can withdraw their children). These teachers also face a different recruitment and reward structure from those at government schools, they are forced to sign bonds and agreements by the school administrations where they cannot quit the school in any condition for years together by themselves; In case they leave, their salaries of months together is devoured and cut off by the school authorities, this is the reflection of many big city schools also. Private schools hire teachers who often do not have a teaching certificate and pay them a fraction of the salaries of government schools, but they hire more teachers to reduce class sizes. The heads have far greater control over hiring and firing of teachers and thus are able to exhibit tighter control, have higher attendance and only retain effective teachers.

UNAPSI observed that some teachers are very unhappy with their lot and that most of them are negatively disposed towards their jobs. Teachers can be effective and productive when they are happy with their job because productivity is a function of human frame of mind and motivation is a necessary requirement for effectively in the long run.

Furthermore, Farber (1984) assessed the sources of stress of suburban teachers in the United States and found that excessive paperwork, unsuccessful administrative meetings, and the lack of advancement opportunities in teaching were related to stress. Workload, lack of resources, poor professional relationships with colleagues, inadequate salary, pupil misbehaviour, difficult interactions with parents and expectations of other staff have been identified as sources of stress in many studies (Borg, Riding &Falzon, 1991; Boyle, et al., 1995; Pierce & Molloy, 1990; Pithers&Soden, 1998; Travers & Cooper, 1993). Smilansky (1984) examined teachers' work satisfaction and reports of job-related stress in some English elementary schools, and he found that teachers' general satisfaction and stress at work were related mostly to their reported feelings about what had happened within class (such as relations with pupils, the process of teaching, and pupil behavior in school) rather than to administrative or policy questions (such as degree of work autonomy, relations with principals). Negative self-perception, negative life experiences, low morale, and a struggle to maintain personal values and standards in the classroom all take their toll (Goodman, 1980; Schnacke, 1982; Schwanke, 1981). Stressed teachers had more illness, medicine intake, anxiety, depression, and sexual passivity. More psychological and psychosomatic symptoms were reported by teachers experiencing high burnout (Bauer et al., 2006). As ithappens, many studies have brought out that private/non-government schools can supply a reasonable quality of school education at almost 25% to 35% of the cost of government education (Pankaj Jain 1997; Tooley et al 2007; Vachani and Smith 2008). This happens because the salary of a schoolteacher in the private sector is almost 25% to 35% of the government salary as found by several studies (see for instance, Bajpai et al 2008a and 2008b) (p 41).

Findings

·         Most Teachers do not get free time though it is shown as free periods in the timetable.

·         They do not get sick leaves; have to take leave without pay if they get engaged in some unavoidable circumstances.

·         Most Teachers are kept on probation and have no pension system.

·         They are in constant threat of expulsion by school employers.

·         Teachers lack administrative support from the principals

·         Teachers have a feeling that the parents and students have no respect for them

·         Teachers are underpaid and have extra working hours

·         Schools follow hire and fire system.

·         Directors are of the view that teachers are available at low pay.

·         Principals follow the rules laid by the trustees.

·         The principals do not decide the salary or appointments of teachers.

·         Teachers feel they do not get respect from parents, students and management.

·         Teachers are overloaded with administrative duties.

·         Teacher‘s salary not at par with the market rate.

Recommendations

Generally, teachers were less satisfied with advancement, compensation, supervision human-relation, and working conditions. In the interview the teachers with four to five years of experience candidly admitted that management is happier to lay off such teachers and appoint new teachers as they would be able to get two teachers at the price of one teacher. Director of one school, said, "Many applications that we receive for secondary schools do not have a professional degree or sometimes they have a degree in home science and are themselves not qualified to teach, but since they are willing to work for such low wages why would schools raise the bar? For every post that is advertised we get at least more than 25 applicants though we do not feature in the top schools."When this is the condition where is the question for these private schools to pay according to sixth pay commission? There are some schools that have put teachers in the sixth pay scale but have their own calculations not as per the government, thus these teachers never get equal pay scale as in case of government school teachers. With the low level of salaries, the immediate concern is clearly on the quality of education being imparted. Adequate payment will motivate teachers to put maximum efforts and enjoy their work." Poor salary is one major factor to the lack of talent flow in education sector. It was thus known from the responses of the teachers that these schools have a stringent pay policy for their teachers. Today neither the parents nor the students respect the teachers. This is what the teachers have to say about what they feel about the teaching profession and what is the attitude of parents, students and principals towards them. It becomes more important for principals to be aware of the importance of their supervisory styles in relation to teachers‘ job satisfaction and should adopt the supportive principal behavior such as criticism should be handled constructively, praise should be given genuinely, and principal should listen and accept teachers‘ suggestions. An atmosphere of trust, confidence and cooperation should be fostered, where teachers can interact with each other than disengage behavior. Efforts should focus on to improving job attraction for talented male population and retaining those already in the profession. The data clearly indicate that teachers derive less satisfaction from advancement, compensation, supervision human-relation, and working conditions, so the private trusts should take more interest in advancement, compensation, supervision human-relation and working conditions than other factors. Similar type of researches should be conducted at colleges and university levels. Jacques Barzun-a French American philosopher has rightly said that, Teaching is not a lost art, but the regard for it is a lost tradition‘. Teachers Day as usual is observed every year and theoretically the teacher, their position and the prestige of their profession is glorified like anything, and also the philosophical discourses are conducted about what and how a teacher should do in this prophetic profession. But hardly we empathize with them and understand their problems or highlight the silent violence which the poor stock faces throughout.

Uganda National Association of Private Schools and Institutions

P.O.Box 29324 Kampala, Uganda, Email: unaph22@yahoo.com , www.unapsi.org

                                               www.ugandaprivateschools.blogspot.com