Fight cheating in examinations

 EDUCATIONIST and former bureaucrat, Dr Musawe Sinebare’s three-part commentary this week on cheating in the education sector must have left a rather sinking feeling.

What were the thousands of candidates sitting for the Grade 10 examinations thinking when they read of some of their peers supposedly having the advantage of examination papers and answers? 

What a time to present such distressing facts and analyses of the integrity and security of examinations in the education system!

Sinabare’s articles were based on current media reports and an internal Department of Education investigation into claims of examinations cheating last year. The investigations turned up quite damning revelations of what had happened and could possibly be left unchecked.  

The stink of cheating em­anates from Waigani into the provincial education offices to school principals and teachers.

And yesterday’s page 3 story in this newspaper makes for a heightened sense of anxiety for Grade 12 students as they prepare for their turn at writing examinations.  

It is the dream of every student at that level of education to score a place at the country’s tertiary institutions.

The reality on the ground though, is that we can only take in roughly a quarter of the students with a Grade 12 education. A report by the Office of Higher Education on the performance of Grade 12 students last year has shown that only 4500 out of the 17,000 were selected for tertiary institutions.

This year the situation is expected to be worse, for out of the 23,000 students who will shortly write the Grade 12 examinations,  with only up to 5000 would be taken in for higher education or technical training.

Given this reality, cheating in examinations to score sufficiently high grades to win one of the very limited numbers of places at universities or colleges is understandable. 

But there is a catch to that.

Even in a world that is becoming increasingly mo­dern and individualistic in character, the rule of the jungle still holds true: The strength of the individual is in the pack and the strength of the pack is in the individual.

Those with a proclivity to cheat in exams or even doctor academic certificates to gain entry into the formal workforce may only achieve a selfish personal goal in economic prosperity but society in the end will be set back by their actions. 

As Sinebare has pointed out, cheating can follow these people into institutions of higher learning and the workplace.  

They may be top performers but with a very shaky moral foundation, their actions and motives will eventually find them out to the detriment of their immediate work place and society at large. 

These are those who do not believe in good old honest hard work but in shortcuts and instant success, fame and self-gratification. 

These are they who have no qualms driving a wedge between stable marriages through their cheating.  

And they are possible fodder for commissions of inquiries and police investigations. Must we envy success that results in that?

Students at this crucial period of their lives should ask themselves what kind of future they want for themselves.  

If it is one with a culture of selfish ambition, corruption and laziness and moral weaklings then cheating in examinations is a sure way to it.

If, on the other hand, they want Papua New Guinea to be among the most progressive and fairest of nations in the world then only smart and honest hard work can make that possible.

It will take a while before any recommendations to make the examination system foolproof are carried through. However, those selling actual or purported examination papers and answer sheets do their business only because there is a demand for it. Refuse them outright or refer them to responsibly authorities at the first instance and the business will dry up quickly.

It is imperative that young people are motivated to nurture positive attitudes and discouraged from cheating and not made to envy the success of cheats.