EXAMINATION MALPRACTICE AND ACADEMIC STAFF SERVICE DELIVERY IN TERTIARY INSTITUTION IN EKITI STATE

This paper examined examination malpractice and academic staff service delivery in tertiary institutions in Ekiti State. The specific objectives of the paper were to; identify the types of examination malpractice that hinder the academic achievement of students in higher institutions in Ekiti State, investigate the causes of examination malpractice that deters the academic achievement of students in higher institutions in Ekiti State, determine the consequences of examination malpractice on academic achievement of students in higher institutions in Ekiti State and find out the measures that could be adopted to minimize the rate of examination malpractice and improve academic achievement of students in higher institutions in Ekiti State. Four research questions were raised in line with the objectives. The population used was 100 lecturers. The researcher used a survey method to select 70 lecturers of Federal Polytechnic Ado Ekiti (FPA) and Ekiti State University (EKSU). The researcher used self-administered questionnaires. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. The simple percentage, mean and standard deviation were used for the research questions while the Pearson moment correlation coefficient formula was used to analyze the hypotheses. The findings revealed alarming levels of examination malpractices, including cheating, unauthorized device usage, collaboration with peers, unauthorized access to exam materials, and plagiarism. The study concludes that examination malpractice is a pervasive issue in tertiary institutions in Ekiti State, with far-reaching consequences on both students and academic staff. It was therefore recommended out of many that Tertiary institutions should enhance invigilation processes during examinations by training invigilators and employing advanced monitoring technologies to detect and prevent malpractices.