By Lake Zone Watch Writer
Seventeen people have been arrested in Dar es Salaam on claims of examination malpractices that they had wanted to write examinations on behalf of some students of the Open University of Tanzania (OUT) at Ilala and Kinondoni centres.
OUT Vice-Chancellor, Prof Elifas Bisanda, said incidents of the malpractices were first reported on June 19, 2024 and that the 17 persons were apprehended through help from invigilators and security officers.
Prof Bisanda appealed to the police force to conduct their investigations and send the culprits to court immediately to face justice.
“The arrested persons have no business to do with OUT. They are outsiders who used fake identity cards. We’re ready to cooperate with the police because we have all the exhibits. I’ll not be contented to hear that investigations are continuing when we have the evidence,” Pof Bisanda said.
He added: “I’ll present this report to the Inspector-General of Police and the President’s Office.”
The leakage and sale of exam papers has become so common that Tanzanian certificates are already being treated with suspicion elsewhere. The speed at which papers are copied and circulated shows organised crime is now involved.
In recent years, examination malpractices have become a regular feature threatening the country’s educational system and constituting a major national embarrassment.
In other cases, students were reported to have hired thugs who made sure the examination invigilators looked the other way while they cheated. Other students, like the OUT case in point, were reported to have brought in candidates to write examinations for them.
Experts suggest that the way out of this quagmire is for the nation to reduce the total emphasis on final examinations as a major determinant of a student’s future in favour of a system which encourages gradual assessment over a period.