Some students of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State, recently found their marked examination scripts for Technical Theatre (DRA 308) with a roadside vendor exactly a month after they sat the examination.
The examination, written on 7 July during the Rain Semester 2023/2024 academic session, had not been released when the students found their scripts with a roadside suya vendor around the campus on 8 August.
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While the results are yet to be released, their scripts have been discarded, meaning there’s no way to resolve concerns should any students dispute their grades from the examination.
The situation has also raised questions about the school’s record-keeping culture.
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The university has not responded to PREMIUM TIMES’s request for comments.
Two years ago, a student in the Dramatic Art department raised concerns that about 80 per cent of the results in a course did not match what was written in the examination scripts, prompting a review that confirmed the student’s claim.
This time, there’s no way to verify students’ scores should any of them make a similar request.
How it happened
Multiple sources within the university told PREMIUM TIMES that the lecturer who handled the course, Taiwo Adeyemi, retired shortly after marking the examination scripts and vacated his office.
One source added that Mr Adeyemi had been battling an ailment and only tried to complete the grading before retiring.
Mr Adeyemi’s former office has since been reassigned to Abiodun Olayiwola, another lecturer in the department who is an associate professor.
While the papers made their way out of the office during Mr Olayiwola’s migration into the office, it is unclear if he threw out the papers while clearing the office or the cleaners, who are oblivious of the importance of the documents.
This newspaper contacted the university’s spokesperson, Abiodun Olarewaju, for the institution’s record-keeping practices and procedures for discarding students’ examination scripts.
He promised to forward the enquiries to the affected Department of Dramatic Arts and respond but had yet to do so as of the time of filing this report.
PREMIUM TIMES also gathered that the Head of Department, Toyin Ogundeji, became aware of the situation shortly after the video surfaced. It is, however, unclear how the department intends to address the situation.
A similar situation
Two years ago, a 400-level student wrote to the Head of Department after observing uniform test and examination scores in two courses taught by Justin Awuawuer, a senior lecturer in the department, in the 2018/2019 academic session.
According to a copy of the letter obtained by this newspaper, the student said she suspected the examination scripts for the two courses –Introduction to directing (DRA 207) and Theory and practice of dance and mime (DRA 204)– were not marked.
Both courses were taught by Mr Awuawuer.
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“Comparing results from both courses, it is suspected that our scripts were not marked because about 80 per cent of the class have exactly the same marks both in the CA and examination in the two courses, which gives an impression of copy and paste,” the student wrote.
Mr Awuawuer, who taught the course and marked the results, admitted to the error, describing it as an ‘ugly mistake’ when questioned by the department.
Responding to the Head of Department in a letter dated 28 March 2023, he explained that the error arose when he copied the students’ registration number from DRA207, but his malfunctioning computer did not save the file name properly. He said it was a human error and not a deliberate mix-up.
“I never knew that such an issue occurred. No student drew my attention to it clearly like this, which I would have responded quickly,” he wrote in the letter, a copy of which was sighted by this newspaper.
“However, I have retrieved from my computer the real raw score for DRA204, and not a duplication of DRA207 as presented before. I, therefore, request you to use your good offices in approving the DRA204, 2018/2019 sessions results for quick uploading.”
