Ministry suspends 232 persons from conducting public examinations
The minister of education, Mrs Obiageli Ezekwesili, has announced an indefinite suspension of 232 persons from conducting public examinations in the country.
Announcing the names yesterday in Abuja, the minister said the ban on the former examiners, supervisors and invigilators was with effect from January this year.
Ezekwesili said the persons were blacklisted for allegedly aiding and abetting examination malpractice.
A breakdown of the list showed that 46 employees of the federal ministry of education and its agencies topped the list of the persons.
The breakdown also showed that Anambra state had 31 officials; Imo, 15; Ondo, 14, while Abia and Cross River states had 11 each.
Oyo state had nine; Ebonyi and Benue states had seven each; Plateau, Enugu and Delta states recorded six officials each, while Edo had five.
According to the list, Ekiti, Kebbi, Kogi, Rivers and the FCT had four each, while Lagos, Nasarawa and Kwara states had three each.
Sokoto state had only one official banned from conducting examinations approved by the federal ministry of education.
Ezekwesili said the list was not exhaustive, and did not capture all the perpetrators, adding that the process was on-going while the long arm of justice would eventually catch up with all perpetrators of examination malpractice.
“These individuals can no longer serve as personnel of the federal ministry of education associated examinations, including those of National Examinations Council (NECO), West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Joint Admission and Matriculations Board (JAMB), National Business and Technical Education Board (NABTEB) and the National Teachers Institute (NTI).
“The suspension as examination personnel is a federal ministry of education administrative action. It is without prejudice to other disciplinary actions or measures prescribed by law,‘’ she said.
Ezekwesili said the suspension was the collective exercise of key stakeholders in the education sector.
“The publication of the list is one side of the coin. The publication of the Federal Ministry of Education Examination Ethics Honours list is the other side of the coin.
“The honours list will profile names of examination personnel and education stakeholders who had made or are making outstanding contributions to promote and defend the integrity of examinations,‘’ she explained.