Exam Ethics Marshals, has flagged off the distribution of Safe School Manual it produced as token of solidarity and support for President Goodluck Jonathan, the Military and Security services in the effort to keep schools safe. In his welcome address, the chairman and task team leader of the group, Ike Onyechere, MFR said that it is high time Nigerians realized the need to support the government in providing security services to our schools. “The time for unproductive critiques and protests is long past. The least every patriotic Nigerian can do is to seek ways and means to engage in some form of positive action in support of government and security services. The time has come for stakeholders to rise and take positive actions from their stations and perspectives, each accordingly to his or her endowment and talents. The matter of safe schools affects everybody irrespective of regional, religious, political and ideological differences”, he said.
Engr. A. E. Okeke, Asst. Controller General who represented the Federal Fire Service enumerated the importance of the programme and the involvement of his organization in support of the project. He pointed out certain elements the must be put in place in public places like school; such as functional fire extinguishers, visible exit doors in case of emergency, etc. He advised Nigerians to be conscious of fire safety in their daily lives.
National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) was represented at the summit by Mallam Alhassan Nuhu, acting Director of Disaster Risk Reduction, NEMA who thanked the organizers for the laudable project. He said his organization has been at the fore front of safety services and maintained that NEMA will continue to partner with the Exam Ethics Marshals in preaching and providing safe services to schools and other establishments in the country.
Exam Ethics Marshals are change agents for transformational education. They are committed to:
• Strict code of ethical self-regulation and discipline in carrying out their duties.
• Unwavering demand for best practices in their sphere of operational influence and leadership.
• Sustained action to plant seeds of moral and ethical values in the fertile minds of students and pupils.
Exam Ethics Marshals courageously work individually and collectively in their various countries, regions, states, stations, offices, schools and classes to:
• Facilitate the development of human capital resources with ethical, moral and educational qualities to successful perform as transformational change agents.
• Facilitate the development of education sector that can produce transformational change agents and ethics friendly leaders and citizens.
• Entrench ethical and moral values to highlight the character component of education.
• Entrench culture of zero malpractice in assessment, evaluation and examination systems such that certificates will be reflective of skills and competences.
• Achieve character and attitudinal re-orientation of education stakeholders in favour of ethics, integrity and best practices.
• Plant the seeds of ethical and moral values in the fertile minds of pupils and students.
• Identify and celebrate stakeholders for outstanding efforts in promoting best practices.
• Promote safety in educational institutions.
• Improve performance of students in examinations based on ethics compliance principles.
• These noble objectives the organization through; Enlistment, training, equipment and deployment of Exam Ethics Marshals in offices and schools who first commit to ethical self-regulation in carrying their duties and second commit to promoting best practices in their spheres of operational influence and leadership.
• Establishment and mentoring of Exam Ethics Clubs in primary, Secondary and tertiary institutions to plant seeds of ethical and moral values in the fertile minds of students.
• Distribution of education best practice books, CDs and Manuals.
• Identification and celebration of champions of best practices to motivate and inspire other stakeholders to take action.
• Multimedia advocacy and enlightenment campaigns to get education stakeholders to understand and implement their specific roles and responsibilities in transforming education.
• Campaign for effective legislation against examination malpractices and academic dishonesty.
Prominent Nigerians presented papers at the highly attended summit. Some of them are; Comrade Jude Imagwe, SSA to the President on Youth and Student Matters; Prof. Hillary Odo Edeoga, VC Michael Okpara University of Agrculture Umudike, etc.
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