February 9, 2006

 Among high school and college students, cheating or use of unfair means has risen dramatically since the last two decades. Students do not mind cheating and most often end up with good marks without deeming their acts as criminal, writes Mukhtar Alam

The general perception about cheating is that it's a menace on the increase. Although the number of incidents involving the use of 'unfair means' is on the rise, what is surprising is that very few incidents are reported to the authorities. Students and teachers maintain that cheating in examination is continuing uninterrupted. Concerted measures to check this epidemic are still awaited.

The unabated use of unfair means by a majority of male and female students, at different levels, has made the credibility of public examinations highly questionable. The cheats are a source of anger to thousands of hard-working students, even though ultimately they fail to win prestigious positions for themselves.

This practice can be done away with if the relevant people i.e. students, parents, teachers and examination authorities, agree to stand united against it. A commitment is needed to eliminate this intellectual corruption and societal decay.

Concerned and alarmed by the rising corruption and malpractices in examinations, the Pakistan Law Commission in 1992 issued a draft of comprehensive legislation for putting an end to the use of unfair means. In its meeting held in Lahore, the Commission observed that the practice of unfair means in examinations was highly organized and very widespread in certain areas, so much so, that the local communities had established funds for the purpose of facilitating the cheating pursuits of students.

A report of the Commission said that the examination system, which is the pivotal point around which the whole system of education revolves, has degenerated to an extent that its validity and reliability are now questionable.

Among high school and college students cheating or use of unfair means has risen dramatically during the last 30-35 years. Students do not mind cheating and most often end up with good marks without deeming their acts as criminal.

Today, examinations are held in a lax environment and students are discovering new methods to cheat. Initially the incriminating materials or tools used for cheating were puriya, taveez or kartoos. The materials included small handwritten chits prepared by candidates after a long and tedious exercise.

In the good old days, cheating used to be a dodging game, which also depended on the personality and mood of examiners and the environment of the examination room.

Now candidates enter the examination centres, equipped with printed pages or photostat copies of answers. The chances of availing all the material prepared for cheating are much brighter since most of the invigilators choose to remain silent spectators. In case a team of inspectors or vigilance officers enters the examination premises for checking, the accommodating invigilators inform the candidates and save them from being caught.

Today one can also see a change in the medium used for cheating. In addition to being in possession of solved papers, resourceful cheats use cellphones during examinations. Unfortunately, the examiners have not yet leant the techniques of tackling such cases or record sufficient evidence for apprehending the guilty candidates.

Students and parents choose to ignore the use of unfair means because they feel corruption exists in all departments of life. Students choose to ignore when their friends cheat in the examinations because they do not want them to get into trouble. Those engaged in cheating say it is a crime only if you get caught. To them, all that matters is using short- cuts or taking risks for better marks and securing positions in merit lists for admissions or jobs.

Ultimately, after a lot of pressure measures were taken effectively for a short duration of one or two years in the mid '90s in Karachi. Authorities at the educational boards and the general universities resolved to turn cognizant and tough, and many cheating incidents in examinations at intermediate and bachelors' level were detected and reported and awarded punishment. But that was only for a limited period.

The problem of cheating is not confined to the general examinations of SSC, HSC or graduation level alone, candidates of professional colleges, such as medical and law colleges, also reportedly resort to unfair means.

In 2005, the number of candidate apprehended for using unfair means during the SSC and HSC annual examinations was surprisingly low. About 4,79,000 candidates appeared for the examinations in Karachi, but only 178 cases of cheating were reported to the educational board. The low figures, pertaining to the use of unfair means, can be interpreted in two ways. Either the cheating has stopped or it's continuing unabated because the relevant quarters have become immune to it.

The increase in cheating practices can be attributed to the nonobservance of spaced seating in examination rooms, shortage of invigilators and senior teachers of integrity as invigilators, lack of incentives for invigilators to stop the use of unfair means and the overall failure to impress upon the students the gravity of using unfair means in examinations.

Politically appointed teachers have to toe their party's line and ignore the foul play of students who belong to their political parties. Some teachers allow cheating because they fear for their safety. Every year there are reports of hooliganism at examination centres and manhandling of teachers. Some teachers have complained about the inability of the law enforcement agencies to ensure security at the examination centres.

Prof Dr Fateh Mohammad Burfat, Chairman of the sociology department at the University of Karachi said that the bane of cheating in the educational institutions of the country dates back to the 1970s. Now, cheating has become a routine and part of our culture. The students resort to shortcuts to obtain academic degrees, while the teachers in most cases help in the process.

According to him, at university level cheating is not as common as it is in school and college qualifying examinations. After the deployment of Rangers at the universities, the level of cheating has lessened. He further said that ethnic and political groups in the community support cheating, while the student wings of political organizations in the educational institutions also help their fellow party members during the examinations. Armed elements threaten teachers and invigilation staff if they try to confront the cheats.

A certificate or degree obtained through copying is fake in spirit and does not train a person to perform better in life. In the functioning world, graduates judged by their actions and their knowledge.

Parents and guardians should also be held responsible for the menace of cheating. They encourage or ignore the cheating habits of their wards, because education remains merely a means to get jobs. Lack of sincerity and honesty on the part of teachers is also considered a major reason behind the increase in cheating in examinations. Unfortunately, teachers are becoming like any other salaried employees and teaching is not now considered a mission to guide the pupils.

Examinations hold great significance, a student works day and night to prove his mettle and achieve success. Cheating in examinations is not only a social evil but it's also denial of justice to a student who works hard. There is a need to rise to the occasion before it's too late. If no actions are taken to stop the usage of unfair means and cheating practices, then the hard-working students will get disillusioned with the system and will follow suit, not to mention the future of the country. The concerned authorities should provide effective legal rules to ensure that no student, teacher or official gets away with foul play.

 

A new system

The director, Aga Khan University-Educational Board (AKU-EB), Dr Thomas Christie, says that there are four kinds of cheating in examinations, i.e. substitution of papers or candidates, purchase of leaked papers, copying and bribery for changes in grades. The AKU-EB, which has been established under a federal government charter and is likely to conduct its first SSC examinations in 2007, has planned M.A.to rely mostly on machines, reducing chances of human involvement in the examination system. According to Dr Christie, in his board’s papers, every page of the answer book will be marked with a barcode which identifies it with a particular candidate. Any substitute page or answer will immediately be spotted by the absence of the barcode. Any attempt to have some one else do the paper will be spotted as the candidates will be examined in their own schools. He says that copying will not work as AKU Board will test understanding and application of knowledge, not the recall of the textbook and as such notes taken into the examination room will be of no use. Copying from a neighbour will lead to a similar answer pattern, which after sophisticated statistical analysis of the patterns of marks will signal the likelihood of copying. Bribery will not work. The board planned e-marking, which means that an electronic copy of each answer script is made the moment it arrives. The examiners will never see the original scripts, except for only electronic images on a computer screen without revealing the details about writer or place of writing, he explains. The examiners will enter their marks directly to the computer and the board staff will be unable to interfere. If any change is made, an electronic trace will be left, Christie adds. M.A.

 

The government version

Ghulam Ali Pasha, Secretary of the Education and Literacy Department, Sindh, says that he is unable to determine the level of cheating in examinations as there has been no systematic working on answer scripts or analysis of the marks obtained by students in any particular subject. “Cheating prevails in examinations, both in urban and in rural areas, due to learning by rote. We need to have a system which guarantees interactive teaching. Unless teachers, students and parents sit together and assess the day to day dissemination of knowledge to students, any major change cannot be expected,” he adds. Teachers, by and large, are unable to practice things for any perpetual development of students, as they themselves are not well equipped, devoted and cause oriented, because during the last 20-30 years appointment of teachers and other affairs in the education-sector have been running through questionable methods under political motives. Strict invigilation and prevalence of rule of law at examination centres can be ensured only when the laws are implemented truly and the community also support the efforts pertaining to reforms in examinations. Now the government is also arranging special training programmes for teachers at all level, with an element of motivation. On the other hand, papers for students will be set in a manner that MCQs are given more room, he remarked.–– M.A.

 

An educationist’s views

A former Director of colleges and ex-president of College Principals’ Association, Karachi, Prof Haroon Rashid, says the responsibility for cheating among students lies on teachers as well. The systems of examination and teaching go along in delivering proper education to students. Nowadays question papers are set without knowing how much of the prescribed syllabus has been covered by teachers in classrooms. Apart from a small number of students who manage extra tutorial or go for additional classes at coaching centres, most of the students who don’t finally resort to cheating, he adds ruefully. “The heads of institutions should ensure a complete and meaningful teaching process at their respective institutions, and in case of any problems they must inform the concerned educational board about it so that the people who set the papers should act accordingly to avoid any unfair treatment to students,” says Prof Haroon Rashid He further explained that the formation of vigilance teams or surprise visits are not proving successful against use of unfair means at examination centres and remained a source of wastage of the board’s exchequer. The number of unfair means cases detected every year has been shrinking gradually, while on the other hand none of the guilty candidates has been given severe punishment or debarred for at least three years.n -–– M.A.

Going by the book

Every educational board has a set of rules regarding enrolment and examination and deals with acts of using unfair and fraudulent means. Some of the rules are as follows:

• No person who is admitted to any examination of the board shall resort to any act which falls within the purview of unfair means or amounts to misbehaviors, indiscipline, violence, causing disturbance or damage to property, assault or threatening to assault any person entrusted with examination duty and instigating for walk out.

• Any person who is guilty of committing the prejudicial acts (as mentioned above) shall be liable to punishment, which include the following;

i) Copying or use of improper/indecent/vulgar/blasphemous/obscene language/ sketches in the answer scripts (in such cases the educational boards are authorized to cancel the examination of the year taken by the candidate concerned).

ii) Unauthorized change of centre, escaping away with scripts, exchange of question paper or script (result shall be cancelled and candidate be also debarred for one year).

iii) Tearing of script in disgust or frustration (relevant paper to be cancelled) or tearing of paper in anger (result to be cancelled and debarred also for one year).

iv) Committing of fraud or forgery or mutilation in the script or disobeying/violating the orders of the supervisory staff or centre superintendent (result to be cancelled and debarred also for two years).

v) Indulgence in disturbance or provocation/agitation/ walkout at the centre or involvement in rowdyism /rioting/ causing damages to furniture and property (result of the year to be cancelled and debarred also for three years).

vi) Giving resistance to centre staff in the discharge of their duty, resorting to insolence/shouting/show of temper and creating a scene, threatening the invigilators or centre's superintendent, resorting to derogatory remarks and abusive language (result of the year be cancelled and debarred also for three years).

vii) Physical assault and causing injury to invigilator/centre staff (result of the year to be cancelled and debarred also for four years).

viii) Impersonation of allowing abetment there-of, smuggling in and out of question paper/script in the original or solved form/shape/condition (result of the year to be cancelled and debarred for three years).

• Whoever, in the opinion of board, or a competent authority or a committee or an officer appointed by the Board is guilty of

i) Premature disclosure of questions or question paper knowing that such question or question paper is to be put or set at an examination written or oral

ii) Substitution of an answer-book or any portion thereof

iii) Supplying to a candidate during his examination answers to questions contained in the question paper or a question put or to be put at an oral examination

iv) Approaching or influencing any employee of the board to act corruptly or dishonestly in the conduct of an examination, declaration of any results, or marking of papers or obtaining secret information relating to an examination shall be liable to be awarded suitable punishment by the Board.

• Every day before the examination begins, the superintendent or the assistant centre superintendent shall call upon the candidates to search their pockets and part with and deliver to him all papers, books or notes, which they may have in their possession.

• Any candidate who fails to part with or is found to have in his possession papers, books, notes or any other material shall be guilty of resorting to unfair means and shall be liable to be expelled from the examination hall. —M.A.

 

An academician says

Dr Muhammad Memon, Director of the AKU-Institute of Educational Development, expresses the view that Pakistan's educational system on the whole seems to be influenced by a 'transmission' educational ideology, while the transformational philosophy of education is largely neglected. Here, teachers are considered as 'transmitters' of knowledge and students are considered as mere 'recipients'. "The transmission educational ideology produces and promotes 'rote learning' which badly affects children's cognitive, social, and intellectual development," he says, adding that the examination system of Pakistan also tends to assess students' rote learning rather than conceptual comprehension, application and analytical competencies and capacity. "Children are, however, by nature, inquisitive, curious, and inquirers, they learn through engagement, dialogue and structural support. Those students, who by nature are not inclined to learn through rote learning, are not able to regurgitate in the examination," he opines adding that as a result, they tend to use unacceptable methods while writing answers. Thus, cheating has emerged as a widespread phenomenon, the deep roots of which are still yet to be understood. "I consider, among others, the factors like ineffective academic approaches, emphasis on rote learning, lack of conceptual attainment, ineffective examination and assessment processes. Besides, overloaded curriculum, inadequate provision of instructional time, inefficient or untrained teachers, lack of self-confidence amongst students, corruption in educational system, lack of students' interest in learning, a desire to get good grades in examination in order to seek admission in higher education institutions, meeting parents' high expectations, unrealistic and irrelevant examination questions and not enough preparation time are factors responsible for cheating in examinations," says Dr Memon. M.A

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