Role of Primary Educator in Restoring Academic Ethics and Integrity in Learners: A Move to Rebuilding Trust in the Educational System in Nigeria

Abstract

Ethical and academic Integrity is very important in the pursuit of academic excellence in learning. In recent times, primary education system in Nigeria has been subjected to reported and unreported cases of ethical and integrity breaches, making the goal of achieving sound primary education a mirage. This could be as a result of degradation of dominant core values, which have been trampled upon in the educational sector and society and various perspectives of what constitutes academic ethics and integrity in the Nigerian educational context. Therefore this paper seeks to identify factors responsible for this development, which include education system, sociocultural environment, economic environment, infrastructure and institutional policies, and management systems. This paper also provides a synopsis of the different perspectives of academic ethics and integrity in Nigeria and how it impacts on the primary education in Nigeria. It concludes by presenting an overview of the major challenges associated with academic ethics and integrity and possible ways of instituting a culture of integrity in the Nigerian primary education system. It then recommended that; a total evaluation of ethical principles should be carried out at intervals in the schools system in other to instil some level of confidence in the primary educational system in Nigeria.