Latest update February 20th, 2025 12:39 PM
UG Vice Chancellor dispels allegations of examination fraud
In an effort to safeguard itself against academic fallout with the Hugh Wooding Law School, the University of Guyana (UG) has conducted an investigation into reports of examination fraud within the Faculty of Law.
There were reports that a lecturer within the local Law Faculty has been suspended but Vice Chancellor of the local University, Professor Jacob Opadeyi, has insisted that this is not the case.
UG Vice Chancellor, Professor Jacob Opadeyi
“Nobody in the Faculty of Law was suspended since I was here…nobody in the Faculty of Law has been suspended because of the sale of exam papers or because of any reason,” Professor Opadeyi told reporters. However, he has called on any individual with such information to bring it swiftly to his attention.
The sale of examination papers within the Law Faculty was called into question after an anonymous letter was sent to the Trinidad-based Law School alleging that marks and examination questions are being sold at a cost.
The nameless correspondence was in turn forwarded to Professor Opadeyi and the Attorney General with officials from the Trinidadian institution stating their concern. And according to Professor Opadeyi, “this concern is a serious one,” even as he considered that UG has over the years shared a cordial relationship with the Hugh Wooding Law School.
Currently the Law School takes 25 UG graduates to undertake the Law programme there and according to Professor Opadeyi, the damning allegations have come at a time when the local university is seeking to have that number increased to 35.
“Now to say that marks and question papers are being sold, means that the Law School will start looking at us and saying ‘hey who are these people?’” said Professor Opadeyi. He however noted that the record will show that “our graduates from the University here have been doing very well, even topping the class at the Law School.”
In his attempt to shed light into an investigation conducted at UG regarding the allegations, the Vice Chancellor explained that not only were there no evidence to support the allegations but it is clear that “students get into the Law School based on their merit…It is your marks not who you are that get you in there.”
“What do you expect if somebody purchases examination questions in advance? How much marks will they get 40 or 80 (per cent)?” queried Professor Opadeyi, who insisted, “We look at all the marks and the pass rate (here) was less than 50 per cent in the class in all courses. There are no set of persons who are getting 80 or 90 (per cent); that is what you do when you buy question papers; because in law it is very easy once you get the questions and you work hard on the questions and get all your citations and cite all your cases properly.”
According to the Vice Chancellor following his own evaluation, the allegations thus far have proved to be unjust since it gives a bad label to “those eminent persons who are teaching our law programme, people who have been professors at other universities, people who are doing a good service collecting poor salary, (it is bad) to paint all of them as collecting money.”
However, it has come to the attention of Professor Opadeyi who assumed the position of Vice Chancellor earlier this year that “I was told this (allegation) happens every year.”
And even as he asserted that the state of affairs is unfair to the University, the Vice Chancellor disclosed that he is opened to receive any evidence of sales of examination papers.
“If anybody has any evidence of such sales bring it to the Vice Chancellor and put your name on it and I will deal with it because that should not be allowed,” said Professor Opadeyi.
He further cautioned that allegations could cause the University at least two weeks of its time just to investigate.
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