Cheat During WAEC And Spend 5 Years Chilling In Jail – Minister For Education

In a bid to curb the widespread vice of exam malpractice amongst Nigerian students, the Minster of Education has proposed a jail term of 5 years and a fine of N200,000 for any students caught cheating during external examinations. This is because the Federal Executive Council has approved the memo from the Ministry of Education seeking to amend the WAEC Act 2004 in line with the 2003 convention in Ghana. Briefing State House correspondents at the end of FEC meeting on Wednesday, the Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufa’I, said the proposal for the amendment would be forwarded to the National Assembly towards domesticating the convention in Nigeria. The minister, who attended the briefing alongside the Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, Minister of Health, Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu and Minister of Environment, Hadiza Mailafia, said the new penalties also involved barring offenders from taking the examination in future. She said: “With this amendment, any person that may be caught in one of those acts will now be fined in the sum of N200, 000 or he may be imprisoned for five years or both depending on the establishment of that offence.”