INVESTIGATING INSTITUTIONAL COMPLICITY IN ACADEMIC FRAUD: A STUDY OF MOBILE PHONE CHEATING FACILITATION BY INSTITUTIONAL ACTORS AND POLICE IN SOMALIA’S NATIONAL SECONDARY EXAMINATIONS: A MULTIPLE REGRESSION ANALYSIS

Authors

  • Mohamed Isse Sidow Faculty of Education, Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU), Uganda
  • Ali Abdi Mohamed Faculty of Education, Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU), Uganda

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.46827/ejes.v13i7.6781

Keywords:

examination malpractice, institutional corruption, mobile phone cheating, academic integrity, digital surveillance

Abstract

The systematic deterioration of academic integrity in Somalia's National Secondary Examinations is examined in this paper, with a particular emphasis on the crucial role institutional actors play in enabling mobile phone cheating. Exam setters, distributors, administrators, parents, and security staff are all involved in a complicated web of corruption, despite the traditional discourse's emphasis on student-led cheating. The study shows that institutional complicity accounts for 88% of the variance in examination misconduct using a quantitative multiple regression analysis. The results show that exam personnel are the main perpetrators of fraud (r = .773), combined with the direct cooperation of police officers and a strategic partnership between parents and principals. A regression model R2 = 0.880 confirms that these institutional factors collectively account for 88% of cheating facilitation. In order to eradicate the "pay-to-pass" atmosphere, the study concludes that a comprehensive movement toward restructuring of adminstration, resources and personnel, examination policies, and legal accountability is necessary for a sustained restoration of educational sovereignty.

Author Biographies

  • Mohamed Isse Sidow, Faculty of Education, Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU), Uganda

    Mohamed Isse Sidow is a senior Lecturer and the Director of Quality Assurance and Curriculum Development at the University of Somalia (UNISO). His extensive leadership background includes serving as a School principal for the Aqoon-Bile Primary and Secondary, Head of Department (HoD) for the Faculty of Education, and Examination Directior at UNISO. Mohamed holds a Master's degree in Educational Planning from the University of Nairobi (UoN), Kenya. A PhD candidate in Curriculum Studies and Instruction at the Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU). He is also a consultant, researcher, and National Trainer and Supervisor for the Ministry of Education’s Teacher Training Institute. Dedicated to advancing Somalia’s educational quality through effective instructional leadership, technology and research, his work focuses on enhancing the integrity of national assessments, professionalizing human capital, and implementing robust curriculum reforms.

  • Ali Abdi Mohamed, Faculty of Education, Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU), Uganda

    Ali Abdi Mohamed is a senior lecturer and researcher at University of Somalia (UNISO), Faculty of Education, Department of Educational Administration, and a PhD student at Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU). And serves as the Director of the National Teachers Development Department in the Ministry of Education, Culture and Higher Education. The field of research in educational management and leadership, instruction and curriculum studies.

    ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ali-Mohamed-46

    Orcid ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3947-6156

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Published

2026-06-09

Issue

Vol. 13 No. 7 (2026)

Section

Articles

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