THE EVIL OF EXAM MALPRACTICE

THE BOY WHO SCORED 100%... BUT COULDN'T ANSWER A SIMPLE QUESTION

A true-to-life lesson for every parent, teacher, and pupil

In a bustling school in the heart of a Nigerian city, there once lived a boy named Jacob. Teachers spoke of him with wonder. Parents at the school gate whispered his name as the standard every child should reach. Jacob never scored below 95%. Not once. Not in Mathematics. Not in English. Not even in Handwriting, a subject where perfection is nearly impossible.

What no one knew was Jacob's secret.

Before every examination, he memorized answers smuggled to him the night before — sometimes from an older cousin who had "connections" at the school, sometimes from a folded slip of paper hidden inside his socks. He never truly solved a problem. He simply reproduced what he had been fed. And because he was clever with his hiding places, nobody ever caught him.

Jacob began to believe his own performance. He walked taller. He answered questions in class with a swagger that made even his teachers assume he understood everything. His parents bought him a bicycle as a reward for his "brilliance." His name was engraved on the school's Wall of Fame.

Then came the day the state organised an inter-school Quiz Festival, broadcast live on local radio for the whole community to hear. Jacob was chosen to represent his school — the obvious choice, given his spotless results.

There was no folded paper this time. No cousin. No socks to hide anything in. Just Jacob, a microphone, and a question waiting to be answered: "What is seven multiplied by eight?"

A question a seven-year-old in his own class could answer in seconds.

Jacob opened his mouth. Nothing came out. He tried again. Silence stretched across the radio waves, into homes, into shops, into the ears of everyone who had once called him brilliant. The presenter gently repeated the question. Still, nothing.

In that unbearable silence, Jacob understood something no test score had ever taught him: all those years, he had not been fooling his teachers or his classmates nearly as much as he had been fooling himself.

Sitting quietly in the audience that day was a girl named Amara, Jacob's classmate. She had never made the Wall of Fame. Her scores hovered around 65% and 70%, earned the slow, honest way — through late nights with her exercise book, through mistakes patiently corrected, through the discipline of actually understanding what she was taught. When the presenter turned to the crowd for a volunteer to attempt the very question Jacob had missed, Amara raised her hand and answered it without hesitation.

Years later, it was Amara's name that appeared on a hospital signboard — Dr. Amara, trusted by her community not because she once topped a class list, but because her competence had been tested by real problems and had not failed. Jacob's certificates, by contrast, could not open the doors that genuine understanding does.

That is the danger of examination malpractice.

It may produce impressive scores, but it cannot produce real knowledge. It may earn applause for a season, but it quietly steals the very things a child will need for life: confidence, competence, and character.

The fight against examination malpractice should not begin in secondary school or university. It should begin in the early years of a child's education — while values are still being formed.

At the elementary school level, children must learn that:

✅ Hard work is better than shortcuts.

✅ Success is meaningful only when it is earned.

✅ Integrity matters even when nobody is watching.

✅ Mistakes are opportunities to learn, not reasons to cheat.

As parents and educators, we must resist the temptation to celebrate results at all costs. Instead, we should celebrate effort, honesty, perseverance, and growth.

A child who scores 70% honestly is often better prepared for life than a child who scores 100% through dishonesty.

At Dayspring Kiddies School, we believe education is not only about passing examinations. It is about building character, developing competence, and raising future leaders who will make a positive impact on society.

The future of Nigeria will not be built by certificates alone. It will be built by men and women whose success rests on integrity.

Let us nip examination malpractice in the bud by teaching our children the value of honesty from their earliest years.

📍 Dayspring Kiddies School
Where Character and Excellence Grow Together