A new investigation by Exam Ethics Marshals International (EEMI) has revealed that 67 percent of private and public secondary schools in Nigeria operate as ‘exam magic centres’, where examination malpractices are widespread. The findings were disclosed by Ike Onyechere, Founding Chairman of EEMI, during a news conference in Abuja on Tuesday, which focused on the role of parents in combating illegal levies in schools.
According to Onyechere, these so-called ‘magic centres’ often lack the necessary infrastructure and academic resources but still manage to secure official accreditation to conduct examinations. He noted that while these schools typically have small class sizes in lower grades (JS1 to SS2), they witness a sharp increase in student population in SS3, where they manipulate continuous assessment scores to facilitate cheating. During exams, collusion between students, supervisors, and invigilators allows for large-scale malpractices.
He further explained that parents are often compelled to pay exorbitant fees, sometimes running into hundreds of thousands of naira, for the illicit services provided by these centres. These payments, he said, fuel corruption within the education sector, as they are shared among members of the syndicates running these operations. Onyechere called on parents to stop funding such illegal activities, emphasizing that doing so destroys the future of their children and undermines the credibility of the education system.
To combat the problem, Onyechere urged all stakeholders, including school administrators, regulators, and law enforcement agencies, to enforce the government’s ban on illegal levies and exam malpractice centres. He stressed that restoring the integrity of Nigeria’s education system was not just about improving academic standards but was also critical to solving broader societal challenges.