By Onyekachi Agu and Ali Hope

The Head, Department of Mass Communication, ESUT, Associate Professor Chidiebere Ezinwa has charged the students of ESUT Joint Universities Preliminary Examinations Board (JUPEB) to shun examination malpractice and uphold academic integrity.

Prof Ezinwa emphasized the critical need for students to focus on their studies and avoid any form of academic misconduct and urged the new intake to embrace hard work, noting that the JUPEB programme is a rigorous nine-month intensive A-Level course designed to prepare them for Direct Entry into 200 Level.

He made the admonition during the ESUT JUPEB orientation programme for the 2025/2026 students of the institution in Enugu

Prof Ezinwa while detailing causes of Examination malpractice among students and its consequences advised the students to always attend lectures and avoid keeping bad company.

“Causes of examination malpractice by students are many but I will list just a few of them and their consequences. Today’s students engage in examination misconduct because the society places emphasis on paper qualifications instead of knowledge and skills, loss of sense of exam malpractice by parents and teachers, poor time management as some students waist so much time on things that are not relevant to their studies such as phones, gaming, parting. Abuse of phones and over socialization, poor attendance to classes as well as poor preparation for exam. Some students start studying for exams when exam timetable is published. Some start reading for each course a night to the exam. The volume of work will become too much for them within such a short time and they will resort to exam malpractice. 

“The consequences of these actions are suspension or immediate expulsion from the university. Let me warn you that at ESUT, examination malpractice is a capital offence punishable by suspension or expulsion. Other consequences are loss of confidence in oneself and lack of courage, poor performance in academic and professional life and Unemployment. Such ill-equipped graduates are not employable. And will remain in the labour market for long. I urge you, therefore to remain focused and maintain academic integrity so you can make your family, and Nigeria proud”, he stated.

Prof Ezinwa while delivering the lecture also shared copies of ESUT examination offences and punishments to the students.

The charge aligned with recent national directives where the Federal Ministry of Education and examination bodies like JAMB have implemented a three-year ban for any candidate found guilty of examination malpractice, enforced via their National Identification Number (NIN).

Speaking at the event, the Director of Admissions, ESUT, Prof. Mike Anyanwuokoro provided clear guidelines for students aiming to transition to full degree programmes through the JUPEB route emphasizing that admission into the regular undergraduate programmes is not automatic. Stressing that candidates must achieve the minimum cut-off points required by their specific departments to qualify for Direct Entry into 200 Level.

The Director stressed the importance of timely fee payments and online registration. He noted that only students listed on the official ICT database would be cleared for the final examinations and subsequent admission processing. He encouraged students targeting competitive fields such as Medicine, Law, and Engineering to maintain high academic performance, as these slots are strictly allocated based on top-tier performance in the 2026 JUPEB national exams

The ESUT JUPEB programme, established in 2016, remains a popular alternative to JAMB, offering a reliable pathway for students to bypass 100-level.

For those still looking to join the current cycle, general JUPEB registration for the 2025/2026 session was recently noted to close around early February 2026. Lectures for the current batch are held at the MSP Mkpokiti facility in Independence Layout, Enugu.