INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION

TECHNOLOGY (ICT) ADOPTION IN THE

PUBLIC EXAMINATION SYSTEM OF NIGERIA

ADELAJA, MARY ADEBIMPE

08CG07728

PROJECT SUPERVISOR: ONI A.A (MRS.)

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OUTLINE
Introduction
Review of Relevant
Literature

Methodology

Implementation

Conclusion

References
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INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background Information
 The public examination system in Nigeria is gradually evolving through the
adoption of ICT. The registration and checking of results for the major public
examinations have been automated and are now online; JAMB has now
incorporated the biometric system of candidate authentication, and has also
only recently obtained 32 scanners which can scan, mark and record 17,000
scripts in one hour! This is a vast improvement from an era in which several
projections were made with no visible realizations. As we seek to experience
more of this adoption, it is only appropriate that an investigation is carried
out to discover which factors can be maximized or otherwise to increase the
adoption of ICT in the public examination system of Nigeria.
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1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

 According to Sahay and Avgerou (2008), ICT has the potential to

transform industries. Thus, ICT is highly needed in the improvement
of the operations of the public examination bodies which in many
cases remain archaic:
 Most public examination bodies do not actually have a standardized
process of submission of official reports and the examination
malpractice cases are submitted manually through shading of
official forms. This is a very cumbersome process and record
keeping is difficult.
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1.3 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The aim of this study is to investigate the factors that influence the adoption of ICT in public

examination system in Nigeria and to develop an Invigilation Reporting System (IRS) for one of the

leading public examination bodies in Nigeria- The West African Examinations Council (WAEC).
The objectives of this study are:

to investigate the current level of adoption of Information Technology by the Examination Bodies

in Nigeria
to investigate the challenges faced in the process of adoption of ICT and the causative factors

to provide a more organized system of submission of invigilation reports

to provide a less cumbersome system of reporting and recording of examination malpractice cases

to provide a system for sending of official mails to invigilators to pass across information

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1.4 METHODOLOGY
 This work is in two parts: The behavioural –science research and design science.
 The behavioural-science research investigated some factors influencing the adoption of ICT
by Public Examination Bodies using questionnaires guided by the Technology- Organization-
Environment (TOE) framework. The data derived from these questionnaires were then be
analyzed using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS).
 In this context, the factors influencing the adoption of Information Technology in these
Organizations (the public examination bodies) in Nigeria (the environment) were
investigated.
 The IRS was developed using Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), PHP, JavaScript and
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) with MySQL Relational Database Management System
(RDBMS), running on AppServer.

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1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The significance of this study among others includes:

 enlightening its readers on the level of adoption of Information Technology

in the public examination system of Nigeria

 providing insight into the factors that are liable to influence the adoption of

technology in an organisation as these factors are present in most

organisations irrespective of their type

 the Invigilation Report System (IRS) developed would present an organized

system of communication between the invigilators and the coordinators

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1.6 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

This study with its several prospects may encounter

certain limitations in its implementation. Some of the
limitations which may be encountered are listed below:
 The involvement of questionnaires in this research may
make the results not entirely reliable due to respondent
bias (Lin, 2009)
 Little work done previously in this specific area.
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2. REVIEW OF EXISTING LITERATURE
 Series of work has been done on the introduction of ICT in education and research.

These include: The Prospect of E-Examination Implementation in Nigeria (Ayo et al,

2007); ICT and Distance Education In Nigeria (Ololube et al, 2006); Perceived Roles of

Information and Communication Technologies in the Implementation of Continuous

Assessment in Nigerian secondary schools (Akindoju et al, 2010); Appraising the

relationship between ICT usage and integration and the standard of teacher

education programs in a developing economy (Ololube, 2006) , amongst others.

 These works correctly carried out their aims and were highly insightful into the

relationship between ICT usage and the educational system of Nigeria. However,

none of them covered the subject of ICT usage in the public examination system in

Nigeria. This is what this work was directed at.

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 2.1 Other works that have used the TOE
framework

 Assessing Drivers of E-Business Value: Results of a Cross-Country Study

(Zhu and Xu, 2003)

A Strategic Framework for E-government Adoption in Public Sector

Organisations (Ebrahim et al, 2004)

 Technological, Organisational, and Environmental Antecedents to Web

Services Adoption (Lippert and Govindarajulu, 2006)

 The Factors Affecting E- Government Assimilation in Developing

Countries (Pudjianto and Hangjung, 2009)

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2.2 Review of Existing Method

 There is no structured process on ground for the submission of reports at

WAEC. Examination Malpractice cases are reported using manual forms. Each

form can contain a maximum of thirteen (13) records with exception of

grouping and widespread cheating as would also be implemented in the IRS.

 Several forms are submitted from the various zone around the country and

indeed, West Africa, and meetings are held the decide on the cases at the

Country Head Quarters.

 In addition to enabling all cases for a particular paper in a centre to be

inputted together, the proposed IRS would represent an improvement in the

record keeping process providing better accessibility.

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4. Methodology: The Research Model

Fig 1: Research Model 12

Methodology (Contd.): Flow Chart of the
IRS

Fig 2: Flow Chart of the IRS 13

Methodology (Contd.): Use Case of the IRS

Fig 3: Use Case for Invigilator Fig 4: Use Case for Administrator 14
4. IMPLEMENTATION: Structural Model
Results

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 Implementation (Contd.)

Fig 6: Login Page Fig 7: Report Form

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 Implementation (Contd.)

Fig 8: New Invigilator Form Fig 9: View Reports Form

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 DISCUSSION
 As earlier stated, this research work was conducted using the Technology- Organisation-

Environment (TOE) framework

 Under Technological factors, the perceived security of the innovated system, the perceived

deployability, perceived reliability and the available ICT expertise were found to affect the

adoption of technology by a public examination body. The perceived deployability of the

system and the ICT expertise available were however found to be the most significant.
 Under Organisational factors, the size of the public examination body, the compatibility of the

technology with the work and the level of interaction of the staff with respect to innovations

were discovered to influence the adoption of ICT by a public examination body. The interaction

amongst employees was however found to be the most significant factor.

 Under Environmental factors, the nature and pressure from the industry, and the

governmental influence were discovered to influence the adoption of ICT in the public

examination system, governmental influence being the more significant. 18

 CONCLUSION

 ICT is a very important tool for development of the public

examination system in Nigeria. It has the potential of
speeding up processes, ensuring security, reducing
paperwork with an additional benefit of better presentation.
 The IRS developed would present a step forward in this wise
in the process of submission and maintenance of invigilation
reports.

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REFERENCES
 Ajidagba U.A.: Public Examination Bodies for Secondary Education in Nigeria: WAEC And NECO
 Akindoju O.G., Banjoko S.O., Jimoh A.S., 2010: Perceived Roles of Information and
Communication Technologies in the Implementation of Continuous Assessment in Nigerian
secondary schools, African Journal of Teacher Education- AJOTE October 2010 ISSN 1916- 7822
Volume 1 No. 1 * Pages 78 - 90 *
 Ayo C.K, Akinyemi I.O., Adebiyi A.A., Ekong U.O., 2007: The Prospects of E-Examination
Implementation in Nigeria, Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education-TOJDE October 2007
ISSN 1302-6488 Volume: 8 Number: 4 Article 10.
 Boni Pudjianto, Zo Hangjung. (2009). Factors Affecting e-Government Assimilation in
Developing Countries. Daejeon, South Korea.
 Jackson M., 2005: The Impact of ICT on the Development of Information Literacy by Students in
Further Education, Journal of eLiteracy, Vol 2 (2005) Pages 15-26
 Microsoft® Encarta® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
 Ololube N.P., 2006: Appraising the relationship between ICT usage and integration and the
standard of teacher education programs in a developing economy, International Journal of
Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology (IJEDICT), 2006,
Vol. 2, Issue 3, pages 70-85.
 Ololube N.P., Ubogu A.E., Ossai A.G., 2006: 2nd International Open and Distance Learning (IODL)
Symposium on ICT and Distance Education in Nigeria
 Olujuwon, T. (2004). Transforming the Nigerian Educational system.

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REFERENCES (Contd.)
 Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Australian Association for Research in Education on
Examining University Students’ and Academics’ Understandings of ICTs in Higher Education,
Brisbane, Australia, November 30, 2008 - December 4, 2008
 Susan K. Lippert, Ph.D., Chittibabu Govindarajulu, Ph.D., 2006:Technological, Organizational, and
Environmental Antecedents to Web Services Adoption, Communications of the IIMA2006 Volume
6 Issue 1
 Ting Seng Eng, 2005: The impact of ICT on learning: A review of research, International Education
Journal, 2005, 6(5), Pages 635-650. ISSN 1443-1475 © 2005 Shannon Research Press.
 Tornatzky, L. G., M. Fleischer. 1990. The Processes of Technological Innovation. Lexington Books,
Lexington, MA.

 Yusuf M.O. & Yusuf H.T., 2009: Educational reforms in Nigeria: The potentials of Information and
Communication Technology (ICT), Educational Research and Review Vol. 4 (5), May, 2009, Pages
225-230, ISSN 1990-3839 © 2009 Academic Journals
 Agyeman, O. T. (2007). ICT for Education in Nigeria. Nigeria: www.infodev.org.
 Dictionary.com, "examination," in Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged10 th Edition
Source location: HarperCollins Publishers: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/examination.
Available: http://dictionary.reference.com. Access Date: November 04, 2011

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REFERENCES (Contd.)
 National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Available: http://www.nbte.gov.ng/ Access Date:
December 19, 2011
 Perspectives on the History of Education in Nigeria, 2008, Available:
www.unilorin.edu.ng/publications/jekayinoluwa/JAMBANDNABTEB.doc Access date: December
19, 2011 
 SPSS: ehow.com Available: http://www.ehow.com/about_6088554_spss-data-access-pack_.html
Access date: December 19, 2011
 Mills G.E., 2008: An Exploration of Factors that Influence the Use of Information Technology for
Institutional Effectiveness in terms of the Research and Learning Productivity of a College or
University Available: http://home.aisnet.org

 S.V Kobiowu, F. A. (2005). The Challenges of Examination Management in the Developing

Societies: The Nigerian Scenario. International Journal of African & African American Studies Vol IV,
No 2 .
http://etd.lib.fsu.edu/theses/available/etd-03202008-150354/unrestricted/MillsGDissertation.pdf
Access date: December 19, 2011

 Scott Schneberger and Mike Wade. (2007, October 2). Retrieved February 20, 2012, from
Association for Information Systems:

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