ABSTRACT

There is a decline in the quality of tertiary institution graduate in Nigeria. A situation where tertiary institution graduates cannot defend what they claimed that they studied and some graduates of higher institution cannot construct very good letter is a cause for concern. University lecturers and employers of labour have always complained on the quality of school products. All these are frightening signals which portends danger for the future of the country. A number of issues could have led to these problems and the most pronounced among them is examination malpractice. The issue of tackling examination malpractices has become a growing concern to the stakeholders; including the government, school administrators, and society. Several techniques such as; use of invigilators to monitor examination, accrediting candidates for examination with photo albums, use of candidate’s identity cards or biometric machines have been made to salvage the situations in the past. These techniques, however, seem not to have yielded the desired results as the cases of examination malpractice keep increasing. This led to the adoption of Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) camera as security tool by tertiary institution to complement the effort of the human invigilators. The purpose of this study is therefore to assess the effectiveness of CCTV as security tool on examination malpractice using tertiary institution as case study. This purpose was achieved by collecting data through a descriptive survey to obtain the responses of some sampled tertiary institution candidates, coordinators and supervisors/officials on effect CCTV has on reduction of examination malpractice and tertiary institution candidates’ willingness to cheat under the CCTV surveillance. Out of the entire population, 431 persons were sampled. The sampled population used for the study was derived from the tertiary institution graduate candidates, institution examination coordinators and supervisors in Federal polytechnic Nekede, Owerri Imo State. The instruments developed and used by the researcher was the ‘‘Questionnaire on Candidates’ Willingness to Cheat and Reduction on Examination Malpractice Under Closed-Circuit Television Surveillance’’ with the interview on ‘Perceptions of Supervisors on Reduction of Examination Malpractice through CCTV Surveillance. Six research questions and five null hypotheses guided this study. The research questions were answered using Descriptive Statistics of Mean, while the hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance using independent t-test statistics, chi-square, simple linear regression and ANOVA. The findings of the study revealed that CCTV surveillance has reduced tertiary institution candidates’ willingness to cheat and that CCTV surveillance is a better security tool than human invigilation in tracking perpetrators. CCTV cameras have effect on reduction of examination malpractices and that perceptive of the supervisors about the effectiveness of CCTV in reducing examination malpractice among candidates was positive. Generally, Closed-Circuit Television as a security tool, has played significant roles in curbing examination malpractice during the conduct of tertiary institution examination. Based on the above findings, one major recommendation among others is that the use of CCTV surveillance in monitoring examination should be automated and adopted by other examination bodies.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

COVER PAGE

TITLE PAGE

APPROVAL PAGE

DEDICATION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

ABSTRACT

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       Background of the project

• Problem statement
• Purpose of the study
• Research Questions
• Research Hypotheses
• Significance of the Study
• Limitation of the Study
• Definition of Terms

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1                                Introduction

2.2                                Examination as an Assessment Procedure – Perspective from Nigeria

2.3.1                          Methods of Examination Malpractice

2.3                                Information Communication Technology and Examination Malpractice: What Role?

2.4                                Perpetration of Examination Malpractice by Some Stakeholders

2.5                                Causes and Effects of Examination Malpractice

2.6                                Effects of Examination Malpractice

2.7                                New Trajectories towards Curbing Examination Malpractice

2.8                                History of CCTV

2.9                                Components of Closed Circuit Television

2.10                            Theoretical Framework

CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

• Introduction
• Research Design
• Population of the Study
• Sampling and Sampling Technique
• Instrument for Data Collection
• Reliability of the Instrument
• Method of Data Collection
• Method of Data Analysis

CHAPTER FOUR

4.0       DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS

• Introduction
• Data presentation and analysis
• Result
• Discussion

CHAPTER FIVE

• Summary
• Conclusion
• Recommendation
• References

CHAPTER ONE

1.0                                                INTRODUCTION

1.1                Background to the Study

Education has been described as a process of teaching and learning, through which the young offspring acquires knowledge for self-development. According to Osuji (2020), education is perceived as a process through which young people are equipped to lead productive live according to their talents and interests. The main purpose of education is knowledge acquisition and realization of potentials, but learners are not only taught and trained to acquire knowledge and skill alone but also how to adapt to acceptable public life. To Onyibe, Uma and Ibina (2015) education is a means of overcoming handicaps, achieving greater quality and acquiring wealth and status for all. Education is regarded as a means by which individuals develop according to their personal needs, talents and potentials. Schooling at the early stages focused on the development of basic interpersonal communication and literacy skills while schooling at the later years turns towards acquiring the knowledge and skills needed to create value and establish a livelihood. People also strive to be educated to satisfy their innate curiosity, out of interest in a specific skill or subject, or for overall individualised development.

Education could be divided into formal or informal education. A type of education that occurs in a structured environment with solely purpose of teaching students is called formal education. Formal education usually takes place in a school environment with classrooms of students learning together under the supervision of a trained and certified teacher of that subject. Unlike formal education, informal education occurs in a variety of places and does not follow the specified curriculum. It is unnecessarily planned to be pedagogically conscious, systematic and according to subjects, but rather holistically problem- oriented, and related to situation management and fitness for life.

Teaching and learning are practical in the African traditional educational system, the learners learn orally and through close observation of their masters. There was no need for certification since the society was interested in skill acquisition and practical demonstration of skills learned. No issuance of certificate to prove completion of course of study. The western or formal education is measured on certificates, yet certificate is not best proof of knowledge acquisition and retention. Before certificate is awarded, students must have been examined or assessed in the field they have been trained.

It is a general consensus that education is a means whereby an individual is guided to develop intellectually and to acquire certain skills adjudged to be necessary for his/her living and for the upliftment of the society in which he/she lives. The function of education should therefore be geared towards increasing those characteristics necessary for the individual’s effectiveness and examination is the instrument used for assessing these individual competences both in general area and in specific area of studies, as well as the overall academic achievement. As a veritable tool for the development of a nation, education has no meaning if there is no assessment or examination. It is therefore means that assessment and examination are very vital tool in determine the standard and level of education achievement. Onyibe, Uma and Emmanuel (2015) opine that examination is the most common tool around which the entire system of education revolves, it is the instrument used to decide who is permitted to move to the next academic level.

Suleman, Gul, Ambrin & Kamran in (2015) defined examination as the process of assessing understanding, knowledge and academic ability of an individual within a given period. Examinations are arranged to evaluate the academic achievement of students and to know whether they have achieved a standard of academic learning and knowledge. Nnam and Inah (2015) opined that examination is a yardstick against which students or candidates’ competence and progress are formally measured and appraised in the education sector. Omemu (2015) noted that teaching and learning become more effective when the students are subjected to an examination process to determine the extent to which the students have assimilated the content of the instruction given and the teacher can also assess himself from the performance of the students. The outcome of examinations goes a long way to determine whether the objectives of the academic process are being met or not. Although students’ performance in examination may not be the true reflection of their ability, till date however,examination still remains the most popular tool for an objective assessment and evaluation of what a learner has achieved after a period of schooling/training. In fact, it is one of the most reliable indicators used to determine the extent of students’ performance in a given training. However, despite the importance of examination in teaching and learning situations, a number of factors affect the credibility of examination scores. Many of these irregularities or misconducts surround examination and it came to an alarming rate in the last two decades. One of the factors that may affect the reliability of examination scores is examination malpractice.

Examination malpractice is anything done by any candidate that renders the assessment process useless and unreliable. Examination malpractice is defined as any deliberate act of wrongdoing, contrary to the rules of examinations designed to give a candidate an undue advantage. Examination malpractice also known as cheating is the illegal action that students take during their examinations to try to make good grades by cutting corners. Examination malpractice is an act or irregular manner of testing candidates which contravenes the rules and conventions guiding the conduct of examinations. Examination malpractice has done a lot of harm to students since many of them have neglected their books with the hope of performing the magic they are used to in every examination. Examination malpractice in Nigerian educational system has been widely discussed and viewed as a major challenge not only to examination bodies but to school administrators, the entire education system, the government and the society at large.

Examination malpractice is not peculiar to our institution of learning or country alone. Cheating has been a social problem for most of recorded history. In an ancient China where applicants for civil service were required to take examinations in individual cubicles to prevent them from copying and they were searched for notes before entering the cubicle. Death penalty was also imposed on any examinee caught cheating but in spite of all these harsh measures, cheating still occurred. In Nigeria, examination malpractices have become a source of great concern to the Nigerian society to the extent that the Federal Government of Nigeria under the leadership of the Abdulsalami Abubakar in 1999 constitution enacted a decree on examination malpractices now known as the Examination Malpractices Act 33 of 1999 to deal with this stiff and very disgraceful societal threat. In attempts to curb examination malpractices in Nigeria, Act 33 of 1993 outlines the following among the offences that constitutes examination malpractices:

• Stealing of question papers;
• Impersonation;
• Conspiracy to cheats;
• Obstruction of supervisor;
• Breach of duties during

Over time the issue of tackling examination malpractices both within the formal school settings and other examinations venues has become a growing concern to the stakeholders; including the government, school administrators, and society. It has become so rampant that the core values of the school system are now been eroded. Besides youths are no longer convinced about the cultural values and reward for hard-work. Several techniques such as; use of invigilators to monitor examination, accrediting candidates for examination with photo albums from examination regulatory bodies, use of candidate’s identity cards or biometric machines have been made to salvage the situations in the past. These techniques, however, seem not to have yielded the desired results as the cases of examination malpractice keeps increasing. In the event of a breach, these techniques may provide enough evidence needed for prosecution of the culprit and their conspirators that may have destroyed the evidence. This led to the introduction of a video surveillance system intended to complement the effort of the human invigilators. Through video surveillance systems the behaviour and activities of people can be monitored using electronic equipment such as Close Circuit Television (CCTV) systems. CCTV system is surveillance infrastructure mounted at a predetermined location to ensure optimal coverage, which collects scene images that are transferred to a monitoring station or are stored for subsequent analysis and review, to prevent crime by deterring potential offenders, because of their awareness of the cameras that may be watching their activities. One of the objectives of using a CCTV system is to detect suspicious behaviours in real-time so that proactive measures can be taken. In Nigeria, Closed Circuit Television technology (CCTV) is gradually becoming part of the strategy to prevent crime and the fear of crime. This approach is not new as the implementation of CCTV systems has risen steeply over the past decade in more developed countries. CCTV systems are now being considered or are actively in use in these countries in public transportation settings, airports, intersections as ‘red light camera ‘, markets, shopping malls, universities, government buildings, and public streets. These systems are being increasingly promoted for their deterrent value, promoting public safety, enhanced detecting capabilities, and their usefulness in decreasing police response times.

However, in examination scenarios in Nigeria, this is not the case, because detection of infringements or suspicious behaviours in real-time is subject to the operator’s uninterrupted vigilance. Some candidates perpetrate malpractice during examinations and get away with it without been caught despite the installation of a CCTV system. This is due to several factors such as fatigue on the part of the CCTV operator; this may cause distractions, human biasness, positioning of camera that may affect area of coverage or some candidates maybe occluded from view to mention a few. All these challenges could influence the outcome of video surveillance. Tertiary institutions in their effort to source for remedies to examination malpractice in their examination, adopted CCTV camera as one of the security tools used to checkmate examination malpractice in public examinations since 2017. Tertiary institution after the completion of the examinations reviewed the activities of the suspected candidates through its Central servers in which all CCTV cameras of all centres are connected to. Improvements on the usage of CCTV cameras in monitoring tertiary institution exams will increase inability of the perpetrators to deny their involvement in malpractice when and if caught. CCTV cameras will provide evidences that cannot be destroyed by the perpetrators and their conspirators especially, if the contents are directly stored in the cloud on real-time bases. The usage of CCTV cameras to monitor higher institutions would give officials opportunities to review malpractice cases and take informed decisions.

1.1                                Statement of the Problem

Examination malpractice is one social problem that is underscoring the outcome and purpose of conduct of examination in Nigeria and it requires a long-lasting solution. Examination malpractice occurs at all levels of the Nigerian educational system but the focus of this study is Tertiary Institution Examination. The more the government, school management, examination bodies and other well-meaning individuals try to find solutions to the problem of examination malpractice in Nigeria, the more the perpetrators also device ways to frustrate such efforts. The problem is becoming more technical by the day; it is transforming from the era of candidates copying from fellow candidates to using sophisticated electronic gadgets such as cell phones and concealed earpieces. The problem of examination malpractice has reduced certificates issued in Nigeria into a little worth paper, such that a number of candidates with outstanding results cannot defend their certificates. The performances of such candidates are not commensurate to the quality of their certificates. Most disheartening is the situation where candidates who have secured admission to study abroad are subjected to dehumanizing treatment because of suspicion on the authenticity of their certificates (Nwoke, Osuji, Agi 2017). Therefore, this study is to assess the roles of Closed-Circuit Television as security tool on examination malpractice: case study of Federal Polytechnic Nekede.

1.3   Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to find out the effectiveness of the deployment of CCTV as a tool for minimizing examination malpractice in tertiary institution. Specifically, the study will determine:

1. Tertiary institution candidates’ willingness to engage in examination malpractice under Closed- Circuit Television Surveillance.
2. Whether the use of Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) has effect on reduction of examination malpractice among tertiary institution

• To determine if CCTV surveillance performs better than human invigilation as security tool in tracking perpetrators of examination

1. To determine if examination malpractice among tertiary institution candidates is gender
2. To determine if there is difference between the responses of the exam coordinators and supervisors on reduction of examination malpractice through CCTV
3. To understand the perception of the supervisors on the effectiveness of CCTV in reducing examination malpractice among tertiary institution

1.4                                Research Questions

The following research questions were drawn for the study:

1. Are tertiary institution candidates willing to cheat under the CCTV surveillance?
2. What effect CCTV has on reduction of examination malpractice?
3. Is CCTV surveillance a better security tool than human invigilation in tracking perpetrators?
4. Is there statistical difference between the responses of the male and female tertiary institution candidates on willingness to cheat?
5. Is there a statistical difference between the responses of the tertiary institution coordinators and supervisors on reduction of examination malpractice through CCTV surveillance?
6. What perceptive do tertiary institution supervisors hold about the effectiveness of CCTV in reducing examination malpractice among candidates?

1.5                                Research Hypotheses

The following hypotheses were formulated for the study:

1. There is no significant relationship between the use of CCTV camera and the willingness to cheat among tertiary institution candidates during the
2. The use of CCTV has no statistically significant effect on reduction of examination malpractice

• CCTV surveillance does not perform better than human invigilation as security tool in tracking

1. There is no statistically significant difference between the responses of the male and female tertiary institution candidates on willingness to cheat.
2. There is no statistically significant difference between the responses of the tertiary institution coordinators and supervisors on reduction of examination malpractice through CCTV

1.6                                Significance of the Study

The findings of this study will enable education stakeholders to understand importance of Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) in reducing or eliminating examination malpractice in Nigeria.

Findings of this study will be very useful for tertiary institutions; as it aids them to know how to diverse admission procedures in order to consider the right candidates for admissions. In this way they can separate the sheep from the goats and thus, ensuring that round pegs are placed in round holes.

Furthermore, it will be proficient for all students/researchers, who are carrying out researches on examination malpractices and other related topics. The findings of the study will aid the students/researchers to have knowledge of the work that has been done by the current     researcher on CCTV and examination malpractice in order for them to conduct further studies in unexplored areas.

1.7                                Scope of the Study

The study was conducted in Federal Polytechnic Nekede. he Federal Polytechnic, Nekede is a federal government-owned higher institution located in Nekede, Owerri. The study was specifically restricted to appraising roles of Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) on examination malpractice: case study of Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Owerri Imo state.

1.8                                Limitation of the Study

The researcher envisaged that, the following may have influenced the results of the study.

1. The selected number of candidates involved may not be adequate to generalise the
2. The level of sincerity of the participants in their responses could not be determined but they were encouraged to be honest with their

1.9                                Definition of Terms

The following are detailed explanation of technical terms used in this study.

1. Cyber Security: Cyber security refers to the body of technologies, processes, and practices designed to protect networks, devices, programs, data and information from attack, damage, misuse theft or unauthorized access. Cyber security may also be referred to as information technology security.
2. Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly transmitted.

• Closed-Circuit: Closed circuit means a complete electrical connection around which current flows or circulates. When you have a series of electrical wires connecting to each other and completing a circuit so that current travels from one end of the circle to the other, this is an example of a closed circuit. It is a circuit without interruption, providing a continuous path through which a current can flow.

1. Security Tools: Security tools can be either software-, hardware- or human-based and help security teams protect their organization’s information, networks, critical infrastructure, and sensitive data from attacks, theft or damages.
2. Video Surveillance: It is a system of monitoring activity in an area or building using a television system in which signals are transmitted from a television camera to the receivers by cables or telephone links forming a closed circuit.
3. Server: A server stores, sends, and receives In essence, it “serves” something else and exists to provide services. A computer, software program, or even a storage device may act as a server, and it may provide one service or several.

Cloud: “The cloud” refers to servers that are accessed over the Internet, and the software and databases that run on those servers. Cloud servers are located in data centers all over the world. By using cloud computing, users and companies don’t have to manage physical servers themselves or run software applications on their own machines.