Cheating in school exams is an old Indian problem, but the unlawful activity literally scaled new heights this week in the eastern state of Bihar, when parents and relatives of 10th-grade students climbed the wall of a school building as they handed cheat sheets to the students taking the year-end exams inside.
The photos and videos showing parents, relatives and friends scaling the school wall doing the “Spiderman-style,” went viral in India. Even police officers standing in close proximity watched helplessly.
Some videos also showed inspectors slapping young students as they pulled out cheat sheets from under their tables. It seems that a number of students were able to smuggle textbooks and notes into the exam centers despite tight security.
Cheating is apparently common in schools in remote rural areas in India, where jobs and seats in college courses are few but competition is fierce. But the sight of parents and relatives risking their life to climb the walls shocked many Indians.
Education experts articulated that cheating is just a symptom of the deeper problems that plague India’s education system, such as teacher absenteeism, emphasis on rote learning and inadequate school infrastructure.
On the other hand, P.K. Sahi, education minister of Bihar, refused to shoulder the blame.
“According to the reports we received, there have been complaints about cheating in many places, especially in rural areas,” he told reporters. “Is this just the responsibility of the government? Is it possible for the government to conduct fair tests without public support? You tell us what can the government do to stop cheating if parents and relatives are not ready to cooperate?”
There are over 1.4 million students taken the tests and authorities expelled nearly 500 students after the bizarre incident.
SHARE. INFORM. AMAZE.
[Source: WashingtonPost]
0 comments:
Post a Comment