The West African Examinations Council, WAEC, has decried the rate of examination malpractice among students, adding that students now drug invigilators using dangerous chemicals.
The council's Registrar, Dr. Iyi Uwadiae, who stated this, yesterday, during a press briefing at WAEC International Centre, Lagos, proposed international summit on examination malpractices for October 19 and 20.
He berated the dimension examination malpractices were taking on the continent of Africa and particularly in Nigeria.
He said: "In some cases, and particularly during private examinations, candidates now go to centres fully armed with guns and other weapons. For the public examinations, there are centres, and especially private schools, where invigilators are drugged to pave way for them to engage in exam malpractices."
According to him, while private candidates now go to examination centres with guns and other weapons, some private schools in connivance with the candidates, are now in the habit of drugging invigilators using dangerous chemicals.
He said: "Waging war against examination malpractices has become very expensive and more difficult, particularly with the advent of social media.
"The most notorious challenge facing examining bodies and other educational institutions in WAEC member-countries is examination malpractice.
"Currently, the malaise has assumed dangerous and criminal dimensions on the heels of some advancements in technology, which created the smartphones, social media, among others.
"The council, in the five member countries, has introduced several measures, adopted various strategies and deployed technologies at great costs in the fight against the ever-festering menace."
"Misguided candidates and their adult collaborators, sometimes including school authorities, teachers, parents and, most recently, operators of rogue websites, have continued to devise ingenious and sophisticated methods of cheating, leading to an exponential increase in reported cases of fraud in public examinations."
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