The assessment of examinatiom mal practices among JHS Students: A study at Freeman JHS,Berekum

Abstract

The study focused on assessing examination malpractice among students at Freeman Methodist Preparatory and Junior High School in Berekum Municipality. A descriptive survey was used to collect in-depth information for the study. A total of hundred (100) students were selected for the study. The respondents were obtained using the convenient sampling method. The data for the study was collected by administering a questionnaire to the participants. The results of the study reviewed that the age range for respondents was from 10-19 which was further grouped into 10-12, 13-15 and 16-19. It could deduced from the Table 1 above that 26% of the respondents falls between the ages of 10-12 years while 36% and 38% represents the ages between 13-15 and 16-19 respectively. Most of the respondents (40%) were male while 60% of the respondents were female. Majority of the respondents (64%) were in junior high school while 36 percent were in primary school. Majority of the respondents (70%) were staying with their biological parents, 20% were staying with their Brother or Sister, 10% were staying with their other relatives and none of them were staying alone.The study recommended that examination papers should be strictly secured by the primary school teachers, sitting arrangement during examination period should be changed on regular basis (pupils could be arranged according to the number in the register or names), parents and community should train up their children to imbibe the traditional values of honesty, hard work, fairness, uprightness at home and be complemented by the school, enough resources should be made available for the conduct of examination, sitting arrangement of pupils during examination should not be too close to each other and pupils should also be thoroughly checked before starting any examination.The study concluded that, less emphasis should be placed on paper qualification. When this is done, there is the likelihood that pupils will not engage in examination malpractice. Most importantly, teachers and parents should encourage their pupils/children to have a positive perception of examination malpractice so that they will not indulge in the act thereby maintaining their dignity