By-Products of Examination Malpractices on Senior High School Students in the Central Region of Ghana

Abstract

This paper explored students’ opinions on the effects of examination malpractices on Senior High School students in Assin Districts, Central Region. The study employed a descriptive survey design with the quantitative method. The participants were made up of students from the six public Senior High Schools in Assin Districts. Proportional stratified and simple random sampling procedures had been employed to select a sample of 302 student participants which comprised 164 male students and 138 female students. A questionnaire was employed to collect the data for the study. Means, standard deviations and independent t-test statistics were used to analyze the data gathered for the study. The findings revealed that the major effect of examination malpractice on students was academic corruption followed by ineffective study habits among Senior High School students. It was concluded that in schools where a conducive environment and teaching/learning materials are not provided for effective learning, students involve themselves in examination malpractice to raise the academic image of the school. It was recommended that the Ministry of Education should provide conducive teaching and learning environment to ensure effective academic work in schools to minimize examination malpractice. Also, heads of Senior High Schools should strengthen public education on the effects of examination malpractice to minimize the menace.