10,000 Teachers’ Exams: Fake Question Papers Flood PH …Ministry Denies Leakage

As more than 60,000 applicants settle down to write
examinations for recruitment into the 10,000 teachers’ job opportunities in
Rivers State, today, The Tide reports that fake question papers have flooded
Port Harcourt, the state capital.

The Tide investigations reveal that thousands of applicants
for placement on the job, yesterday, scrambled for the fake question papers,
paying huge sums of money to purveyors of the documents.

In different areas of Port Harcourt, yesterday, The Tide
gathered that the desperate applicants stumbled against each other, running
photocopies of the fake question papers in various business centres within the
city, especially around the Diobu and Township areas.

Our correspondent, who went round the city yesterday,
reports that most applicants for the job were confused over the authenticity of
the question papers while others expressed optimism that the documents were
genuine, even as they doled out thousands of Naira to get photocopies.

As the rush continued, The Tide learnt that peddlers of the
fake question papers strived desperately to convince potential candidates of
the authenticity of their product, assuring them that they were working in
tandem with the examiners.

But reacting swiftly to the rumours of the massive leakage
of the question papers yesterday, Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of
Education, Richard Ofuru allayed speculations that the question papers had
leaked.

Speaking to The Tide in Port Harcourt yesterday, Ofuru
confirmed that he has also heard of the rumours making the rounds that question
papers for the recruitment examination had leaked to candidates but insisted
that the rumours had no basis.

The Permanent Secretary disclosed that the special examiners
for the recruitment examination just arrived from Abuja yesterday, stressing
that it was unfounded to speculate that the question papers set by the
examiners had found their way into the streets of Port Harcourt even before the
arrival of the examiners.

He told The Tide that the question papers being floundered
around were fake, and could not be similar or in any way resemble those to be
used for the recruitment examination, today.

Ofuru insisted that those who had rushed to purchase the
fake question papers would be disappointed as soon as the original question
papers are served them in the over 87 examination centres dotted across the
state capital.

The Permanent Secretary therefore, advised candidates for
the recruitment examination to ignore the fake question papers, and concentrate
on how to pass the examination without involving themselves in any
malpractices.

Meanwhile, the ministry has concluded arrangements to
conduct a hitch-free recruitment examination across the state, today, with
every logistics put in place to ensure that the necessary environment is
provided for all candidates to write the examination without hitches.

In a statement yesterday, titled: Centre Report for
Recruitment of Teachers in Rivers State,” the ministry indicated that 87
centres have been selected for the examination, with 500 candidates expected to
seat for the exams in each centre.

According to the ministry, each centre has specific number
of candidates allocated to it, with names of the applicants clearly indicated.

When The Tide visited the State Secretariat Complex
yesterday, thousands of the shortlisted candidates were seen clustering around
the ground floor of the Podium Block, struggling to cross-check their names
against the centres on display.

While some of the candidates identified their centres after
several hours of search, some searched endlessly without any clue as to where
they were to write the exams.

However, as at 4pm yesterday, The Tide gathered that the
final list of candidates and their centres were yet to be displayed, while some
centres had to be changed later yesterday.

But even as the candidates scrambled to pin their names to a
centre yesterday, many still had difficulty making any progress, just as they
simply concluded to stay back to ensure that they tracked their centres before
leaving the secretariat.

It would be recalled the Rivers State Ministry of Education
had earlier fixed the recruitment examinations for August 8 and 15,
respectively but had to shift the examinations to today following the inability
of thousands of the applicants to complete their registration for the
examination online before the stated date as directed by the ministry.

The ministry explained that the extension of the deadline
for the online registration was necessary to give room for all those who had
failed to meet the deadline to do so before August 15, today.

But as the ministry settles down to the nitty-gritty of the
recruitment examination today, The Tide can state that given the scenario
created by the inconsistencies in centre identification and candidates’
allocation, the examinations may be marred by serious confusion and chaos.

Eunice Choko-Kayode