It is morally wrong and must be avoided at all costs. But it rears its ugly head every time a student sits for an examination.
Cheating is not the done thing. But as exams near, there are the unscrupulous few who resort to a little help from friends, devices, or technology to cross the magic pass mark figure.
From those crude days when copying was simple and fraught with risks, it has now transcended into an art form.
Paper leaks are the most common form of cheating. The question paper appears just before the exams are to begin. With social media like WhatsApp etc. these days, it reaches a wider audience. Cases of paper leaks were reported in Pune and the state recently.
Strict vigilance is required to curb this menace. However, with the increasing use of technology, students have got clever at the art of cheating in exams.
Gone are the days when cheating amounted to hiding small chits of paper in the clothing and using it when the invigilator looked elsewhere. The old rubber band in the sleeve was a tried and trusted method but the success rate was touch and go.
There have also been cases where well-bound 200-page books have been reduced to an abridged version as pages were snipped off during exams. Things have got sophisticated in this day and age and even to an extent bizarre.
Consider the case of a water bottle. Innocent enough but open to a bit of doctoring. Smart students tear off the labels, write on the inside of it and stick it back again. Deft use of the hands facilitates the process of copying. This is nothing compared to the smart watch. New techniques used include taking a smart watch and adding a smarter strap from somewhere like Mobile Mob which makes it look like a digital one. Turning that into a fountain of information for nefarious purposes becomes just a flick away.
Even a calculator has not been spared. Some write at the back of it with a pencil and it can hardly be seen. Others use its memory functions and store information there. Faking injury and writing inside a plaster has also been used frequently. A gentle lift of the plaster provides many an answer.
Some use ultra-violet pens or ones with invisible ink. And some write answers on the nails of their thumb. The eraser is also a popular tool. One side is used to write loads of stuff while the other stays normal.
The one method which was audacious happened in India, according to a report. An innovative student flung his question paper out of the window where a friend stood. The friend picked up the paper and went to a van where a group was waiting with relevant books and answers. With clever use of a speaker, the answers to the full paper were broadcast and one and all passed. Innovative indeed, but a deception all the same.
As the great Greek tragedian Sophocles put it,” I would prefer even to fail with honour than win by cheating.”
That’s the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
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