“If it comes easy it comes wrong,” goes a contemporary adage that demonises ‘easy come’ benefits. It’s quite different at Makerere University where easy come is the way to go. The ladies crave quick monies, the boys thirst quick sleep overs out of relationships. No one wants to sacrifice time and impatience. Now it’s foolhardy to expect such chronic target workers exercising untold dishonesty in relationships to engage in any sort of academic honesty.
At a typical faculty, up to four unarmed green uniformed guards sit at the entrance, in addition one armed guard makes rounds. They help in checking and apprehending examination cheats who tend to get rowdy when caught.
Well we seek to gorge this evil out of its hole. We look at the various ways examination malpractice is done at Makerere University.
1. Mercenaries.
Amid the fast approaching academic storms, cheats often employ the services of mercenaries; hired frauds who sit exams on behalf of these hiring students. The scheme is often well organised that in some instances, identity cards are forged to match the examination permits. Mercenaries sit for students especially in big classes where it’s less likely for one to personally acquaint oneself with faces. This practice is common among 1st and 2nd years who hire mercenaries for their course works. “The risky venture attracts between 50,000/- and 250, 000/-depending on the risks involved, the nature of the client ( female and older clients pay more) and nature of paper, I definitely charge more for a complex course unit,” reveals one mercenary our sources availed us.
2.Plagiarism.
This refers to presenting another’s work as one’s own. Most university students copy and paste work from online and present it fraudulent as their own brain work. It’s not strange to find phrases copied verbatim in coursework that are in ‘the take home format’ and required typing. Occasionally, a keen examiner will identify the plagiarists but will seldom take action. Lecturer in short encourage the vice.
3.Collusion.
A little group walks into the examination room early, they quietly sit in a little cluster. They quietly keep as calm as possible. As the paper commences, question papers are shrewdly exchanged with scribbled answers summarised upon them. Alternatively, a brighter student will tilt his answer in such away that his neighbour will literally copy and paste everything to his own. This combined effort mechanism isn’t very dependable for it attracts way too much attention.
4.Raw materials.
Raw materials refer to real class notes smuggled into the examination room. This scheme is the most profound, risky as it might be. It’s the most reliable if well executed. One summarises work on a small chit of paper or folded sets of paper. A fellow will don heavy clothing regardless of the weather. His eyes will dart suspiciously, sitting in a strategic place especially besides a wall, he will refer to his raw material and triumph! As long as he doesn’t get caught. His neighbours will look at him with mock contempt and masked admiration. Not quite surprisingly, students mind their business at university, it’s very unlikely for students to report a neighbour seen cheating. It’s premised on the fear of the possible repercussions of betrayal.
5.Prof. Google and Dr. Wikipedia.
The fault with university examination is the laxity in attitude with regard to phones. Examination invigilators will casually prohibit phones yet not enforce the prohibition. Phones are a priceless vehicle of fraud. Social media groups arise to the challenge but since most cheats prefer going solo, they consult prof. Google who has all answers really, tiny phones coupled with data, are such a quick way to an improved CGPA.
- Treasure trove and tattoos.
A fellow either writes summaries deep in the places where the sun doesn’t shine, he execuses himself and consults his tattoos of wisdom. Alternatively, he goes to the loos and extracts a hand out neatly hidden in one of the toilet corners. Loos are often not combed clean yet a lot of cheating occurs in these spots during the exam period.
- Professional dissertation writers.
Walls around Makerere university for instance are littered with notices announcing contacts of men whose sole duty is to write reports, dissertations, and research proposals at a fee. Since these bulky duties eat up time, they’re quite a lucrative venture. Lazy students employ the services of these professionals. However, some are reluctant because it’s really demanding for one to type four research proposals in a day so often, four students will end up with similar work.
8.Typed tags.
At certain levels colleges permit partially open papers, for instance at Makerere university, school of law, a fraud racquet was discovered. “They typed cheat sheets in the format of the permitted materials and stapled them together. It was sheer vigilance that led to the discovery of these fellows.” Laments Sylvia Tamale, a professor of law at Makerere.
Another lecturer voiced her agitation at the difficulty in getting evidence of malpractice especially when such evidence is destroyed. ” I’ve had experience of a student chewing the cheat sheet he had.” she preferred anonymity.
Nyanja Musoke, a lecturer at the faculty of development studies remarked, ” When a student is caught, he often attempts to beat you, find space and run, security isn’t enough.”
Students interviewed from the school of Economics remarked about the high rate of malpractice at that particular school. Owing to the large numbers that make supervision quite difficult.
