Tunde Oladipo, who studied Computer Science and Soft-well Development in Demark, Britain, Germany and several other countries, is the Managing Director of Electronic Test Company. The Computer Scientist tells JOSEPH OKOGHENUN and IBUKUNOLUWA KAYODE that computer-based examination is the core solution to the hydra-head challenge of examination malpractices in Nigeria.WHAT is electronic testing'Electronic testing can also be called e-testing, computer-based testing (CBT) or computer-based assessment. It is a simple process by which examinations are done on and by the computer. From the moment the questions are developed to the point they are delivered and answered, to the point they are graded and recorded, everything is done by use of computer. What it means is that we do not need to print a question.Is e-testing capable of solving our growing challenge of examination malpractice'Yes, there are three key elements in examinations that we do in Nigeria, especially our national examinations. The first stage is registration and preparation for examination. The second stage is the actual examination taking-the delivery and answering process. The last stage is the result communication process. Nigeria has spent a lot of energy in the first and the last stages. Registration and communication processes are already computerized. But where the challenge now lies is the examination delivery and taking with pen and paper. What happens in Nigeria is that when you print question papers, you have actually exposed them for malpractice.The first problem CBT eliminates is the problem of printing question papers. For multi-choice questions (MCQs), the questions are delivered to the student through computer, and the computer would prepare and deliver the result right there where the student is tasking the exam, so that the rigours of marking examinations are eliminated. Any of the examinations that are MCQ-based could be released to the student on time takes.This process saves the cost of printing question papers and answer booklets, cost of transporting, rigours of marking question papers and headache of examination malpractice.Computer-based testing also promotes the use of biometrics in public examinations to combat impersonation. Through e-testing, we can obtain biometrics at the registration point of each candidate and put them on their certificates. CBT, I believe, is the best way to go not just in our national examinations, but every examination in the country.How cheap is it'It is cheaper than paper-based examinations, because we do not need to print question papers. If we do not print question papers, we would be saving cost of examinations. Furthermore, we do not need to transport question papers; if we do not transport question papers, would be saving cost. This singular step saves us from possible accidents.We could then spend more energy in ensuring that we do proper question development. Many of our examination bodies already have the capability to develop good and psychometrically sound questions. Through e-testing, all the outlets where there are linkages will be blocked because question papers are out of the system.Is there international evidence to show that E-Testing if malpractice proof'Yes, we should remember most international examinations are computer based. For instance, GMAT, TOEFL, GRE, SAT, CCNA, Oracle, ACCA, among others are computer based. In UK, there is a committee of universities made of 13 universities, which mandate computer-based tests for prospective students, no matter the degree the candidate is coming with. Good old City and Guild examination has been converted to computer based. Why can't we do ours like that'And even in Nigeria, we have evidence that it works because we have been in this business since 2008. And we have conducted examinations for close to 2 million candidates since we started. We conducted 17 universities admission examinations in 2010 alone. Many human resource and human capital development companies use our platforms to test their candidates.One of the beauties of computer-based examinations is that one does not need many facilities to conduct them. For example, if you are conducting examination for 1.5 million candidates, you do not need 1.5 million tables, chairs and pencils. Through e-testing, what you need is little amount of that, which makes the process save a lot of cost.Will infrastructural challenge like erratic power supply, computer illiteracy and hacking, among others, not prove problematic for this proposition'Power supply is a very important factor in e-testing. In computer-based test, we need uninterrupted power supply. But there are many solutions to that. We can make use of generators, inverters or a mixture of both. In our mobile centre, we use charged laptops, which can take one for up to 10 hours before discharging.Candidates require 95 per cent of the subject matter and five per cent of the ability to move mouse to pass computer-based tests. Before any examination, we play video that shows the candidates how to fill in data and move cursor to appropriate areas. We also put the instructions on Internet system so that prospective candidates can go to cybercafs to read them before the examination. For permanent solution to so-called illiteracy, we are coming up with 14-keypad board design in such a way that each alphabet on the pad would represent the answer. Mind you we are designing this keypad because of primary school pupils, who may not have access to computer. But if it requires us to use the say keyboard for national examinations, we would not mind.From our own experience, the candidates who fail computer-based test examinations are those who are very versed in computer, because they would never follow instructions. But candidates from villages hardly fail computer-based examinations, because they often follow laid-down rules and instructions.Our computer -based test is hacking proof because it is not Internet based. Hackers are only able to hack information when it is Internet based. But if one were running examination through local deployment system, the examination would be between the server and the laptop in a local environment.The minimum requirement for us to develop as a country is for us to be able to develop our graduates to a level that they are employable. That is not in our society today.We are bold to say that we are equipped and technologically ready to do national examination. Vision 20:2020 will just be a mirage if we don't have people that would take over the economy because they are not well-trained and assessed. We do not even know what our children know today. How can we then move forward as a country
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