*Federal Polytechnic Nekede Deploys Turnitin Software to check plagiarism*
- *Emerges first Polytechnic in Eastern Nigeria to do so*
- *Rector assures unflinching commitment to culture of excellence*

Federal Polytechnic Nekede has acquired a special software called Turnitin to check incidences of plagiarism bedeviling the academia. This development, according to officials of the software company, has effectively made the institution the first Polytechnic East of the Niger that has so deployed the technology which can detect academic fraud within five minutes.

Meanwhile, the digital Rector of Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Engr. Dr. Michael Arimanwa FNSE, JP, has expressed the commitment of his institution to bequeath a culture of excellence and integrity through the deployment of the anti-plagiarism software, Turnitin.

The Rector made this remark Wednesday at a seminar organized for members of the Anti-Plagiarism Committee of the polytechnic held at the council chambers. The successful deployment of the software, according to the poly chief, is in consonance with the culture of excellence which his administration has enthroned in the running of the polytechnic.

According to the award-winning Rector, “The idea of the software is to check all forms of dishonesty in publications and intellectual enterprise. It will contain the recurrence of intellectual theft amongst academics. The software is also programmed to identify the source of any copied work with the aim of exposing the people involved.”

To this end, the polytechnic chief executive has advocated the setting up of an institutional repository to contain the published works of lecturers in the institution. This, according to the Rector, will make it easy for scholars to put their works online to test or protect their integrity.

The Rector used the occasion to condemn the menace of plagiarism which he identified as a factor undermining hard work amongst scholars. He cited the case of a certain Reader in a university whose papers failed the anti-plagiarism test, prompting the university to demote him to the rank of lecturer I, in addition to his forfeiting promotion for five years after the said event. He therefore warned that lecturers must imbibe the culture of hardwork so as not to be caught in the web of plagiarism.

Moving forward, the Rector hinted that all lecturers would soon be required to send digital copies of their works so that they could be published online.

He also promised to deploy the Turnitin software in the areas of continuing education and distance learning. “This will enable people who cannot leave their locations at any material time to receive lectures while some distance away,” the Rector concluded.

Rector Arimanwa also enjoined members of the committee to work hard so that they would in turn train others in the community. He thanked them for their commitment over the years to the anti-plagiarism fight, promising henceforth to deploy the technology on any work that would be sent for external assessment.

The climax of the ceremony was the formal presentation of the evidence of the anti-plagiarism software registration to the Rector by the Polytechnic Librarian, Dr. Chris Enyia, who also expressed joy that the institution had successfully subscribed to the latest version of the software, thanking the Rector for his noble vision in repositioning the polytechnic for excellent strides.

It is noteworthy that the Turnitin software aims at ensuring integrity in global education in order to improve learning outcomes. Records show that over 90% of performing universities globally have deployed the software.

Remarkably, Federal Polytechnic Nekede is the first polytechnic in Eastern Nigeria (southsouth and southeast) to deploy the technology and the third in Nigeria after Yaba College of Technology and Federal Polytechnic Ede.

FEDPONEK GAZETTE
14 SEPTEMBER, 2022

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