Lead image by me.
In a country where so many things are wrong, we can't help but complain. I was emotional yesterday due to the memorial of those who died a year ago during the endSARS protest, the terrible outcome of yesterday's protest, and some other personal reasons. I'm glad my friends wrote articles about it here on Read.cash.
I just kept thinking that 'why are things so messed up in this country?' I heard heartbreaking news the day before yesterday.
So last year March, In my University, we had to go home for something we call ASUU strike, ASUU is called the Academic Staff Union of Universities, the government didn't fulfill the agreement to ASUU concerning funds to disburse and refusal to use a payment method called IPPIS by the Union. This led to the warning strike for 2 weeks then the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country which led to the lockdown.
The strike lasted most of the year till it was called off in November. We resumed Online classes in January 2021, the examination was conducted online for about 40% of us.
I didn't write the examination at my house because it was noisy, one of the rules we were asked to follow was that we were supposed to write the exams in total silence. Nobody else was expected to be in the room while we wrote it which was impossible because I lived with my little cousins. I had to pay to write it in a noise-free environment.
Different proctors invigilated the exams. There was a particular exam that I wrote, I sat with other people that wrote exams there, I didn't realize that from where I sat that the webcam saw someone near me. The proctor questioned me about it, she asked who was near me, I explained that I was writing at a centre and that it was a fellow examinee.
While she was talking, I heard a man's voice near her, another proctor perhaps, he told her to flag my account. He said he didn't understand why she was asking me so many questions. I started pleading, almost crying, raising my voice to the detriment of the other examinees in the room. The woman took pity asked me to log out and move in a way that she won't see the other girl. I quickly did as she said and the issue was resolved. I remember how relieved I was to hear that. I tiptoed throughout the exam.
Some weren't so lucky to meet a proctor like mine. I have a coursemate who was among the unlucky ones. His Laptop was faulty during the period of examinations so he had to borrow his cousin's laptop. The borrowed laptop wasn't working at first so they tried all they could for it to work. When he started the examination, his cousin wasn't aware and peeped from the window to see if all was well. He tried to tell his cousin off and the proctor asked him who was in the room with him. The proctor demanded to see the room where he was and he raised his laptop to show that no one else was in the room.
He later found out that he couldn't access the student's portal after examinations, he wasn't aware that the proctor had flagged his account for malpractice. We were worried, everyone in the class could vouch that he didn't do it. This was someone that didn't think it was necessary to use google during online tests that no proctor was monitoring. He was all about reading books, he's someone that would have finished the course outline halfway into the semester.
When we resumed the second semester, he had to face the School's Panel. For weeks, nothing was said, he wasn't able to register for his courses, he couldn't write tests because they were held online on a portal that he couldn't access because of the ban on his account. We were all worried for him. The registration of courses on the portal closed, they had still not given him the verdict.
A few days to our first examination, the ban was lifted from the portals of people who were accused of malpractice so he was able to register for his courses. He wrote exams and we thought everything was settled, there was even a letter that was sent to him that stated that he was cleared of all charges. We rejoiced with him, I was genuinely happy for him, he had been through a lot. Our joy was however short-lived as a few days ago, a letter dated September 21st was sent to him. It stated that he was found guilty and was rusticated for one semester, it also stated that the exams that he wrote for the whole first semester were canceled.
Our course adviser suggested that he repeat the year instead of advancing to the next year because he won't be able to cope with the workload. He won't be joining us in year 3.
I was vexed for him, so many people wrote the examination under intense malpractice but weren't even exposed, an innocent individual was scapegoated.
It just wasn't fair.
I'm sad for him, he lost his mom in 2o20 and now this is happening.
The system isn't just fair, I kept wondering about how it could have been me if the female proctor had listened to the male proctor.
He can't complain, there's no student body to complain to. The dean of student affairs can't do anything either. We can't protest too, he just has to accept it.
Why would you tell him he was cleared of all charges if you wanted to rusticate him? It just doesn't make sense to me.
I hope that he will be fine despite all these problems.
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October 21st, 2021
©Deepensiverse.
This is saddening. I've seen cases like this back in the poly ,even when the exam was physical exams. I pray this setback doesn't affect his resolve. You're a student of Unilag ,right?