Teachers’ perception regarding malpractices used in examinations in Urban areas of district Peshawar

The study aimed at investigating factors associated with malpractices used in Secondary School Certificate Examination in the Urban Areas of District Peshawar. The main objectives of the study were to gather information from teachers about various cheating techniques used in examinations and know main factors that force students to cheat in examinations. Twenty (20) educational institutions for boys, including public and private, were purposively selected from urban areas of District Peshawar for the data collection. Questionnaires were distributed among 60 teachers of sampled High and Higher Secondary Schools in order to collect data. Majority of the respondents agreed to the fact that students usually use small chits as cheating technique in S.S.C. examination as they considered it safer and easier to hide from the examination conducting staff. The study further showed that the board officials, colleagues of the duty staff (examination conducting staff), fear of stopping of annual increments, pressure from the higher authority, poor standard of teaching, parents, and well reputation of institutions were key factors responsible for cheating in Secondary School Certificate Examination in urban areas of district Peshawar. An encouraging aspect of the study is also that the principals of the institutions were not involved in this unfair activity.