Makerere University has uncovered a racket in which university
staff sell examination marks to failed students through Facebook link
and mobile money network.
Printouts show how some students submitted their
registration numbers and lists of course units to the staff at the
university data rooms to give them better marks than they actually
scored in the examinations.
A university source said that
while Makerere University publicly down-plays the problem, it is
internally digging deeper to get to the core of the racket that involves
some top administrators.
Some students in the scheme were netted by the university administrators and investigators and asked to surrender their passwords to their social media accounts.
Some students in the scheme were netted by the university administrators and investigators and asked to surrender their passwords to their social media accounts.
A printout of their social media accounts
revealed the trail of their correspondences with some officials in
charge of the university’s Senate data base and how the original marks
were altered for better grades.
Senate is the university’s highest academic
decision making body and approves the final marks and grading for
students before the graduation list is confirmed.
A Facebook account bearing names of Sultan Ed
Eddy, who claims to be a student at the university, was linked to a one
Jack Mathew, alleged to be working at the university to give him higher
marks. Subsequently, Eddy became an agent, linking other students from
the Faculty of Economics and Management to Mathew for the same purpose.
“I have access to data. In fact, I can fix missing
papers and marks. If you have a retake, I can help you get rid of it by
giving you any mark above 50 per cent. I can also improve on CGPA
(Cumulative Grade Point Average) if you want for all faculties except
ICT,” Mathew shared with his clients on his social media account on June
21, assuring them that they can only pay after confirming that work has
successfully been done.
“When I change the results, the change also
reflects online (ar.mak.ac.ug, the university website) so she can
confirm from there. But the best proof is to get a testimonial from the
registrar. If she won’t be satisfied with the online confirmation only,
we may have to wait till results come out,” Mathew wrote to a student
through the Facebook account.
A fortnight later, Eddy reappeared with a client
under student number 209011161 and registration number (09/u/3770/eve)
from the Institute of Statistics, who wanted results for his 13 course
units altered.
Excited at the money offer, Mathew asked whether
it was cash. He indicated that though he charges Shs300, 000 per paper
worked upon, he could settle for Shs100, 000 since the papers were many.
Saturday Monitor verified the several registration
numbers shared during this Facebook conversation and found they exist
on the Makerere University website. For example, the names registered
under this account are Allan Busingye.
In the Facebook conversation, the papers which he
wanted changed reflected marks ranging between 55 per cent and 75 per
cent at the time Saturday Monitor logged onto his student account on the
university website. Some had a sign RT to mean retake.
