6 ms·

India students caught 'cheating' in exams in Bihar

53 points by mohanrajn84 12y ago

GordonS 12y ago
On a much different scale, but an Indian outsourcing firm we do business with (Capgemini) gives our interview questions to subsequent candidates. Sometimes it's evident they are trying desperately to Google for answers during telephone interviews, and I've even noticed that there is sometimes someone else there feeding them with answers!
- ghost91 12y ago
  I didn't know Capgemini is doing much outsourcing in India. A lecturer at my university is by Capgemini. Do you have any more good stories?
  - GordonS 12y ago
    It's technically a French company, but they have an incredible 50,000+ employees in India. There was one development candidate I was interviewing who was speaking to himself in hushed tones, during the interview '...google...sql join...', 'YES, YES, JUST A MINUTE SIR', '...next page...no, no..ah..' etc. Quite ridiculous. I have to interview about 20 shortlisted people to find 1 decent developer. Problem is it's difficult to use CVs/resumes to shortlist, since many are complete fabrications.
    - keerthiko 12y ago
      Normally I would say "what's wrong with knowing what to Google for and getting the right answer in a short enough time span to seem like a reasonable response to your dev question" since that's how many devs (who actually get stuff done) work. However, it's hilarious because the internet speeds are so slow in India that they probably would be better off actually spending the time in front of a reference book than waiting for their browser to crawl through Google.
      - GordonS 12y ago
        I've no issue with using Google (or whatever your favourite search engine happens to be) in day-to-day work. But in an interview setting, and especially for extremely basic questions, it's completely inappropriate. Regarding Internet speed, India has seen phenomenal infrastructure changes in the past decade. Internet speed in this particular office in Mumbai is very fast. Fast connections are available in major cities, for consumers as well as businesses. There are a number of ISPs in Mumbai offering ADSL and FTTH connections (I've only just got FTTC where I am in the UK!).
        kedargj 12y ago
        Hey Gordon, I'm fascinated by your challenges with scaling applicant evaluations. Could I learn more about it? We conduct blind auditions at scale for companies and it's a problem we're keen to learn more about. Could we connect?
- driverdan 12y ago
  Why do you continue to work with them?
  - GordonS 12y ago
    I don't have a choice. I've previously had much more successful engagements with companies in China and India, so would gladly change if it was up to me. However, I work in a large organisation, and even if my direct manager agrees with me, those above him honestly couldn't give a shit what we think.
1971genocide 12y ago
Its sometimes amazing when I see other indian student ( being from south asia myself ) outsource their report writing back home from university in england. Sometimes I sit in lectures and the the person besides me have 5+ years experience working in IT with a bachelors from India competing with 18-19 year old people.
m0skit0 12y ago
IMHO the real problem here since a long time is that exams have been demonstrated to be flawed. You can pass an exam and have no idea on the subject. The whole system is flawed, we need a new education system.
- Cthulhu_ 12y ago
  The theory is right though, it's the people taking the exams that do it wrong - 'cramming' before an exam, cheating, pretty much doing everything to avoid actually understanding the subject.
- macspoofing 12y ago
  Uh huh. Like what?
  - spain 12y ago
    If he knew he would have probably mentioned it.
    - JustSomeNobody 12y ago
      Unless he's currently writing the patent documents for it.
  - howling 12y ago
    How about just having no grades at all? The companies/universities get to decide which applicants to choose by their own methods.
- glesica 12y ago
  In this case, you need to propose something better in order to be taken seriously. Even companies like Coursera still use exams and quizzes heavily, presumably because they couldn't come up with anything better. The goal is to test whether someone has learned something. The most obvious way is to ask them a series of questions to confirm that they have learned it. There are some other obvious alternatives, like having them do a project that would require having the knowledge you wanted them to learn, but those methods don't scale and are just as, if not more, vulnerable to cheating (it is common in Indian universities to hire someone to do your capstone project for you).
ved_a 12y ago
Sigh. Unleash the troll.
andreash 12y ago
I don't understand exactly how this cheating method work? How do the students communicate with the people outside?
- frade33 12y ago
  Shortly after you receive the question paper, the question paper is sent to people outside, either through windows you can see, or by taking 'pee break'. after which they prepare answers and deliver them through windows, or they take it from bathrooms, when taking the '2nd pee break'. I have sat in one of those exams, ;) but it was in Pakistan, nothing dissimilar though. That said, it was about 10 years ago. Now there are very tough 'restrictions' esp., in urban areas, but in rural areas I guess this could be still in practice. But this does not help any of them, because even witin Pakistan, the degree from the Sindh province (where it is more common), is barely taken seriously, when applying for the Job.
arkentos 12y ago
This is shocking even as a Indian. In a place where scoring high rather than learning is of prime importance, this is not unbelievable. But parents helping out, this is all-out crazy level.
- gnufied 12y ago
  Bihar like few other north indian states have heavy male dominance. About 90% of relatives I know, want their daughters to finish Matriculation and get married. The point is - parents put such little emphasis on education of their daughters that girls learn very little in terms of real knowledge by the time - they have to write board exams. Now it is very important to be at least class 10th pass for getting married, so parents put all resources they can to get them to pass (which includes cheating). Having said that, both boys and girls cheat of course. But from my experience - the society makes it damn hard for girls to excel academically. They have to help with house chores - cooking, cleaning and often are encouraged by parents to skip classes for doing stuff at home.
gnufied 12y ago
As someone from Bihar, there is a pattern to this cheating. Certain years, the Govt. decides to clamp down hard and exams happen under Election like security and certain years you have free for all cheating. Also Bihar has a very small number of engineering colleges (like 9-10 compared to almost 300 in Tamilnadu), so in my experience people who cheat; tend to filter out themselves, because people have to compete hard for engineering entrance examinations (like IIT-JEE/AIEEE). My point is - by and large, it wouldn't be fair to paint a average engineer from Bihar by same brushstroke (of course, this is bit self-serving because I happen to have same background).
eitally 12y ago
The problem is that if you have 1.4 million people to compete against in your state and you know the authorities don't really care if you cheat, then you absolutely have an incentive to cheat. This is a political & cultural problem, but is absolutely solvable. In my graduate program (~60 people) at a top tier US engineering school, about 10% were Chinese, 80% Indian, and 10% American. The Indians did all their work as a big team, and it didn't matter whether it was homework, quizzes, projects, tests, or even their theses. They didn't consider it cheating at all, even though it absolutely was (except the homework, where partnership was usually encouraged). Everyone else knew they were cheating, but in the absence of professors willing to confront the problem, what is an honest student to do? Do you maintain your integrity at the risk of lower grades, or do you cheat, too, and ensure a high GPA?
- hahla 12y ago
  I too noticed this in my graduate program. However the majority 70% were Chinese, and they did the same exact thing you say. They would come into the lecture hall early and plan out their seating arrangements for each and every exam. It was clearly noticeable they were cheating. I cant speak to Indian students as there was only one in the entire graduate program.
- JustSomeNobody 12y ago
  I'm not clear on how what the Indians are doing affects the GPA of the Chinese or Americans in your example. Do they blow the curve, maybe? Also, Americans tend to put individual before group. I wonder if your example isn't so much cheating as a difference in culture.
  - rayiner 12y ago
    It undermines the moral fabric of the society. It's not a coincidence that in India (or Bangladesh, where My family is from), you have to bribe someone to get your phone hooked up.
    - JustSomeNobody 12y ago
nish1500 12y ago
Not sure if relevant, but when I was in 10th Grade, the teachers helped all of us in the exams. They didn't want to tarnish the image of the school by having a low-pass result. Yes, India.
- triangleman 12y ago
  This can happen anywhere. I remember my old high school math teacher helping the star math pupil get a higher score on the AIME[1] and then again on the IMO[2]. The student was suspected of cheating and, thankfully, given a second chance to take the exam again (don't remember which one) without the teacher present. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Invitational_Mathematics_Examination http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Invitational_Mathemati... [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Mathematical_Olympiad http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Mathematical_Olym...
  - howling 12y ago
    How does one cheat in IMO? Is your high school teacher your country's IMO team leader?
    - triangleman 12y ago
      Maybe it was a qualifying test? I don't know, it was held in the school.
shubhamjain 12y ago
The whole Indian Education system reeks with strong attitude towards just getting grades & marks, discourages any innovative / critical thinking and to be honest, it is completely hopeless. The higher you climb, the more messed up it is. If any qualified person would be there to make the examination papers and to check them, in most of the engineering colleges here, I doubt even 20% would make it till the end. The questions are repetitive, quite general and purposely unspecific. People buy reports, seminars, projects because they find it impossible to make it on their own. Cheating with so common and ingrained that it is something to boast about and not frowned upon by anyone, in fact, an average student believes that he has a moral right to cheat. Even the IITs which produce the smartest bunch are able to attract the smartest because of their 'brand' and not because of any intrinsic value they provide. The same story of typical Indian college applies to them. The good news is, no of startups that are actually interested in someone's talent have grown in past few years. Someone like me, who found their 'path' through Internet, is lucky to be part of one of them. :)
test1235 12y ago
Is there no-one monitoring the exam inside the room?
actopren 12y ago
Seems like BBC in a mission to defame India. They also seem to forget the problems in their country and focus on others. See this:http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/45000-caught-cheating-at-britains-universities-7555109.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/4... 45000 British students caught. Although this article was published in 2012. Worth noting that, this kind of news are not news at all for BBC. EDIT: For all the downvoters. You got the right to do it but read this article starting from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_BBC#Indophobia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_BBC#Indophobi... BBC was earlier criticized for being Anti-India, Anti-American, Anti-other religion stuff.
- icebraining 12y ago
  Not 45000 British students, but 45000 students in British universities.
  - actopren 12y ago
    Well its got to match OP's title mate.
    - icebraining 12y ago
      The difference being that Britain is well known for having a lot of foreign students (many universities range 20-40%), so the set of "students in Britain" is very different from "British students". The same is not valid for India which, as far as I know, it's not a popular destination for foreign students looking for an university degree.
      - actopren1 12y ago
        Note taken Sir. But I cannot edit the title anymore. Sorry!
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
- 12y ago
NamTaf 12y ago
This analogue is seen through any sort of MOOC that you do. Register for one (especially programming/maths/science-related) and google some of the homework questions. There's heaps of sites where straight answers are given (as in, multichoice options to a question, no explanation). For some, that seems to be worth their time. I don't even understand.
monort 12y ago
If this video is authentic, cheating seems to be one of the lesser problems in Indian education. Instructors are hitting students: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zfC3kbOlQI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zfC3kbOlQI
- ankurpatel 12y ago
  The laws are not strict and followed allowing students to cheat and not fear getting caught. If student was banned completely from higher education if they cheated once then no one would cheat.
- JustSomeNobody 12y ago
  I got slapped in the face by my 4th grade teacher once. This was back when schools had windows and so there was this kid bouncing one of those red "kick ball" balls on a sidewalk right outside my window. I couldn't concentrate on what I was doing so I got up, went to the window and said some pretty naughty things. My teacher marched right over and laid her hand across my face. My father just smiled when he heard about it and told me I got what I deserved. I was all "yes, ma'am" and "no, ma'am" to her from then on.
chdir 12y ago
That picture of students hanging from the windows of exam hall is hilarious and sad. Though it is not representational of India on the whole. The state of Bihar has been notorious when it comes to 'cheating' in exams (besides heightened levels of crimes in every other field). The title of the article leaves a bad taste in the mouth. The premier universities in India have a much more robust system of conducting exams. More than a decade ago, the exam paper was supposedly leaked before the exam. The exam, which is conducted all over India, was cancelled and re-conducted. That was quite a feat. However, on the -ve side, there are political leaders who have encouraged 'cheating' by abolishing laws against such acts.
Jabbles 12y ago
This problem is certainly not unique to India. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/10132391/Riot-after-Chinese-teachers-try-to-stop-pupils-cheating.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/1013239...
srameshc 12y ago
Well let's not generalize the entire Indian education system by looking at this picture. Cheating during exams is grave offence and I have heard storied how someone was suspended for an entire year for getting caught cheating. This is an extreme case.
kamaal 12y ago
Smaller depiction of a larger malaise. Indian education system is simply the tip of the ice berg. The government and educational systems are just the small front face of corruption, that is in the Indian society today. The corruption you see in the form of exchange of money is minuscule when compared to moral corruption which has infected everyone here. Unfortunately you are likely to face far more worse kind of corruption even at workplaces, even in Multi national corporations in India. Religious, linguistic and regional politics is very common. If you are really hard working and productive, expect yourself to be exploited. You will go on working only to find worthless people get promoted and rewarded. Every single section of the India society is simply looking for a easy way to get ahead even if that means blatantly cheating your way through. Given these circumstances its hardly surprising why good people just want to move out settle outside India.
- kopter 12y ago
  Yup, and it only makes it that much harder for Indian students who want to separate themselves from the herd and try to be honest hard-working individuals.
ruppy 12y ago
I read some of the comments here that attribute the problem to the lack of resources or the communal good. I respectfully disagree. The main problem in India is the outdated system. Most Indian kids have plenty of resources available to them and most parents in India would go hungry as compared to not provide the needed educational resources that were needed by the kids. Also, most Indian kids are super competitive and they have to be when their parents are always asking their rank in class. Having said that, I don't think it really matters over the long term. Here is my personal experience: Growing up in India, cheating was not only accepted but encouraged. I did my high school in India and during the big board exams, I was one of very few students who didn't cheat - out of 200. Why? My dad (and some of the other parents) told us that if we cheated, they will kill us. During the exams, the teachers that were proctoring the exam came up to us repeatedly and asked if we needed help and trust me, it was tempting because you don't want to fall behind someone who is cheating. There were and are a few factors at play. One is the emphasis on year-end exams. They are the only means of determining the students' performance. No papers to write, no projects, nothing else. Teachers are rated only on the success of their students in these year-end exams. Competition is very high. Parents (admittedly not all) are willing to do anything to help their kids get ahead. If you go to a school during exam time, very often you will see parents standing outside trying to pass notes through windows etc. I have heard of people who hid phones under their turbans in the exams and all kind of other crazy stories. Now, here is why I don't think it matters. In the short term cheaters scored better but in the longer run, the few of us that didn't cheat came out ahead (small community so I know most of the people and where they are now). In hindsight, I am very glad that my dad didn't allow me to cheat. After that experience, I went to undergrad and grad school in the US and I did see cheating - Indians, Chinese, Americans - everyone cheated, some more blatantly than the others. It didn't bother me because I strongly believed that in the longer terms those that didn't (and don't) cheat will come out ahead. So far, I haven't seen anything that has disproved that hypothesis.
jqm 12y ago
You can cheat on exams, but you can't cheat when it comes to to produce. You either do, or you don't do it. It's like stealing. You might get by doing it, a few people might get by, but everyone can't steal for a living. Somewhere, someone has to be making the things that are stolen. And somewhere, someone has to have ideas and knowledge and drive to implement solutions. Everyone can't simply bullshit their way through life. But some people never figure this out.
nileshtrivedi 12y ago
600 students have been expelled over this incident: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/03/20/600-indian-students-expelled-after-footage-shows-parents-scaling-walls-to-pass/?intcmp=trending http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/03/20/600-indian-students-...

53 points by mohanrajn84 12y ago

On a much different scale, but an Indian outsourcing firm we do business with (Capgemini) gives our interview questions to subsequent candidates. Sometimes it's evident they are trying desperately to Google for answers during telephone interviews, and I've even noticed that there is sometimes someone else there feeding them with answers!

ghost91 12y ago
I didn't know Capgemini is doing much outsourcing in India. A lecturer at my university is by Capgemini. Do you have any more good stories?
- GordonS 12y ago
  It's technically a French company, but they have an incredible 50,000+ employees in India. There was one development candidate I was interviewing who was speaking to himself in hushed tones, during the interview '...google...sql join...', 'YES, YES, JUST A MINUTE SIR', '...next page...no, no..ah..' etc. Quite ridiculous. I have to interview about 20 shortlisted people to find 1 decent developer. Problem is it's difficult to use CVs/resumes to shortlist, since many are complete fabrications.
  - keerthiko 12y ago
    Normally I would say "what's wrong with knowing what to Google for and getting the right answer in a short enough time span to seem like a reasonable response to your dev question" since that's how many devs (who actually get stuff done) work. However, it's hilarious because the internet speeds are so slow in India that they probably would be better off actually spending the time in front of a reference book than waiting for their browser to crawl through Google.
    - GordonS 12y ago
      I've no issue with using Google (or whatever your favourite search engine happens to be) in day-to-day work. But in an interview setting, and especially for extremely basic questions, it's completely inappropriate. Regarding Internet speed, India has seen phenomenal infrastructure changes in the past decade. Internet speed in this particular office in Mumbai is very fast. Fast connections are available in major cities, for consumers as well as businesses. There are a number of ISPs in Mumbai offering ADSL and FTTH connections (I've only just got FTTC where I am in the UK!).
      - kedargj 12y ago
        Hey Gordon, I'm fascinated by your challenges with scaling applicant evaluations. Could I learn more about it? We conduct blind auditions at scale for companies and it's a problem we're keen to learn more about. Could we connect?
driverdan 12y ago
Why do you continue to work with them?
- GordonS 12y ago
  I don't have a choice. I've previously had much more successful engagements with companies in China and India, so would gladly change if it was up to me. However, I work in a large organisation, and even if my direct manager agrees with me, those above him honestly couldn't give a shit what we think.

1971genocide 12y ago

Its sometimes amazing when I see other indian student ( being from south asia myself ) outsource their report writing back home from university in england. Sometimes I sit in lectures and the the person besides me have 5+ years experience working in IT with a bachelors from India competing with 18-19 year old people.

m0skit0 12y ago

IMHO the real problem here since a long time is that exams have been demonstrated to be flawed. You can pass an exam and have no idea on the subject. The whole system is flawed, we need a new education system.

Cthulhu_ 12y ago
The theory is right though, it's the people taking the exams that do it wrong - 'cramming' before an exam, cheating, pretty much doing everything to avoid actually understanding the subject.
macspoofing 12y ago
Uh huh. Like what?
- spain 12y ago
  If he knew he would have probably mentioned it.
  - JustSomeNobody 12y ago
    Unless he's currently writing the patent documents for it.
- howling 12y ago
  How about just having no grades at all? The companies/universities get to decide which applicants to choose by their own methods.
glesica 12y ago
In this case, you need to propose something better in order to be taken seriously. Even companies like Coursera still use exams and quizzes heavily, presumably because they couldn't come up with anything better. The goal is to test whether someone has learned something. The most obvious way is to ask them a series of questions to confirm that they have learned it. There are some other obvious alternatives, like having them do a project that would require having the knowledge you wanted them to learn, but those methods don't scale and are just as, if not more, vulnerable to cheating (it is common in Indian universities to hire someone to do your capstone project for you).

ved_a 12y ago

Sigh. Unleash the troll.

andreash 12y ago

I don't understand exactly how this cheating method work? How do the students communicate with the people outside?

frade33 12y ago
Shortly after you receive the question paper, the question paper is sent to people outside, either through windows you can see, or by taking 'pee break'. after which they prepare answers and deliver them through windows, or they take it from bathrooms, when taking the '2nd pee break'. I have sat in one of those exams, ;) but it was in Pakistan, nothing dissimilar though. That said, it was about 10 years ago. Now there are very tough 'restrictions' esp., in urban areas, but in rural areas I guess this could be still in practice. But this does not help any of them, because even witin Pakistan, the degree from the Sindh province (where it is more common), is barely taken seriously, when applying for the Job.

arkentos 12y ago

This is shocking even as a Indian. In a place where scoring high rather than learning is of prime importance, this is not unbelievable. But parents helping out, this is all-out crazy level.

gnufied 12y ago
Bihar like few other north indian states have heavy male dominance. About 90% of relatives I know, want their daughters to finish Matriculation and get married. The point is - parents put such little emphasis on education of their daughters that girls learn very little in terms of real knowledge by the time - they have to write board exams. Now it is very important to be at least class 10th pass for getting married, so parents put all resources they can to get them to pass (which includes cheating). Having said that, both boys and girls cheat of course. But from my experience - the society makes it damn hard for girls to excel academically. They have to help with house chores - cooking, cleaning and often are encouraged by parents to skip classes for doing stuff at home.

gnufied 12y ago

As someone from Bihar, there is a pattern to this cheating. Certain years, the Govt. decides to clamp down hard and exams happen under Election like security and certain years you have free for all cheating. Also Bihar has a very small number of engineering colleges (like 9-10 compared to almost 300 in Tamilnadu), so in my experience people who cheat; tend to filter out themselves, because people have to compete hard for engineering entrance examinations (like IIT-JEE/AIEEE). My point is - by and large, it wouldn't be fair to paint a average engineer from Bihar by same brushstroke (of course, this is bit self-serving because I happen to have same background).

eitally 12y ago

The problem is that if you have 1.4 million people to compete against in your state and you know the authorities don't really care if you cheat, then you absolutely have an incentive to cheat. This is a political & cultural problem, but is absolutely solvable. In my graduate program (~60 people) at a top tier US engineering school, about 10% were Chinese, 80% Indian, and 10% American. The Indians did all their work as a big team, and it didn't matter whether it was homework, quizzes, projects, tests, or even their theses. They didn't consider it cheating at all, even though it absolutely was (except the homework, where partnership was usually encouraged). Everyone else knew they were cheating, but in the absence of professors willing to confront the problem, what is an honest student to do? Do you maintain your integrity at the risk of lower grades, or do you cheat, too, and ensure a high GPA?

hahla 12y ago
I too noticed this in my graduate program. However the majority 70% were Chinese, and they did the same exact thing you say. They would come into the lecture hall early and plan out their seating arrangements for each and every exam. It was clearly noticeable they were cheating. I cant speak to Indian students as there was only one in the entire graduate program.
JustSomeNobody 12y ago
I'm not clear on how what the Indians are doing affects the GPA of the Chinese or Americans in your example. Do they blow the curve, maybe? Also, Americans tend to put individual before group. I wonder if your example isn't so much cheating as a difference in culture.
- rayiner 12y ago
  It undermines the moral fabric of the society. It's not a coincidence that in India (or Bangladesh, where My family is from), you have to bribe someone to get your phone hooked up.
  - JustSomeNobody 12y ago

nish1500 12y ago

Not sure if relevant, but when I was in 10th Grade, the teachers helped all of us in the exams. They didn't want to tarnish the image of the school by having a low-pass result. Yes, India.

triangleman 12y ago
This can happen anywhere. I remember my old high school math teacher helping the star math pupil get a higher score on the AIME[1] and then again on the IMO[2]. The student was suspected of cheating and, thankfully, given a second chance to take the exam again (don't remember which one) without the teacher present. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Invitational_Mathematics_Examination http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Invitational_Mathemati... [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Mathematical_Olympiad http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Mathematical_Olym...
- howling 12y ago
  How does one cheat in IMO? Is your high school teacher your country's IMO team leader?
  - triangleman 12y ago
    Maybe it was a qualifying test? I don't know, it was held in the school.

shubhamjain 12y ago

The whole Indian Education system reeks with strong attitude towards just getting grades & marks, discourages any innovative / critical thinking and to be honest, it is completely hopeless. The higher you climb, the more messed up it is. If any qualified person would be there to make the examination papers and to check them, in most of the engineering colleges here, I doubt even 20% would make it till the end. The questions are repetitive, quite general and purposely unspecific. People buy reports, seminars, projects because they find it impossible to make it on their own. Cheating with so common and ingrained that it is something to boast about and not frowned upon by anyone, in fact, an average student believes that he has a moral right to cheat. Even the IITs which produce the smartest bunch are able to attract the smartest because of their 'brand' and not because of any intrinsic value they provide. The same story of typical Indian college applies to them. The good news is, no of startups that are actually interested in someone's talent have grown in past few years. Someone like me, who found their 'path' through Internet, is lucky to be part of one of them. :)

test1235 12y ago

Is there no-one monitoring the exam inside the room?

actopren 12y ago

Seems like BBC in a mission to defame India. They also seem to forget the problems in their country and focus on others. See this:http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/45000-caught-cheating-at-britains-universities-7555109.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/4... 45000 British students caught. Although this article was published in 2012. Worth noting that, this kind of news are not news at all for BBC. EDIT: For all the downvoters. You got the right to do it but read this article starting from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_BBC#Indophobia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_BBC#Indophobi... BBC was earlier criticized for being Anti-India, Anti-American, Anti-other religion stuff.

icebraining 12y ago
Not 45000 British students, but 45000 students in British universities.
- actopren 12y ago
  Well its got to match OP's title mate.
  - icebraining 12y ago
    The difference being that Britain is well known for having a lot of foreign students (many universities range 20-40%), so the set of "students in Britain" is very different from "British students". The same is not valid for India which, as far as I know, it's not a popular destination for foreign students looking for an university degree.
    - actopren1 12y ago
      Note taken Sir. But I cannot edit the title anymore. Sorry!
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
12y ago

NamTaf 12y ago

This analogue is seen through any sort of MOOC that you do. Register for one (especially programming/maths/science-related) and google some of the homework questions. There's heaps of sites where straight answers are given (as in, multichoice options to a question, no explanation). For some, that seems to be worth their time. I don't even understand.

monort 12y ago

If this video is authentic, cheating seems to be one of the lesser problems in Indian education. Instructors are hitting students: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zfC3kbOlQI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zfC3kbOlQI

ankurpatel 12y ago
The laws are not strict and followed allowing students to cheat and not fear getting caught. If student was banned completely from higher education if they cheated once then no one would cheat.
JustSomeNobody 12y ago
I got slapped in the face by my 4th grade teacher once. This was back when schools had windows and so there was this kid bouncing one of those red "kick ball" balls on a sidewalk right outside my window. I couldn't concentrate on what I was doing so I got up, went to the window and said some pretty naughty things. My teacher marched right over and laid her hand across my face. My father just smiled when he heard about it and told me I got what I deserved. I was all "yes, ma'am" and "no, ma'am" to her from then on.

chdir 12y ago

That picture of students hanging from the windows of exam hall is hilarious and sad. Though it is not representational of India on the whole. The state of Bihar has been notorious when it comes to 'cheating' in exams (besides heightened levels of crimes in every other field). The title of the article leaves a bad taste in the mouth. The premier universities in India have a much more robust system of conducting exams. More than a decade ago, the exam paper was supposedly leaked before the exam. The exam, which is conducted all over India, was cancelled and re-conducted. That was quite a feat. However, on the -ve side, there are political leaders who have encouraged 'cheating' by abolishing laws against such acts.

Jabbles 12y ago

This problem is certainly not unique to India. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/10132391/Riot-after-Chinese-teachers-try-to-stop-pupils-cheating.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/1013239...

srameshc 12y ago

Well let's not generalize the entire Indian education system by looking at this picture. Cheating during exams is grave offence and I have heard storied how someone was suspended for an entire year for getting caught cheating. This is an extreme case.

kamaal 12y ago

Smaller depiction of a larger malaise. Indian education system is simply the tip of the ice berg. The government and educational systems are just the small front face of corruption, that is in the Indian society today. The corruption you see in the form of exchange of money is minuscule when compared to moral corruption which has infected everyone here. Unfortunately you are likely to face far more worse kind of corruption even at workplaces, even in Multi national corporations in India. Religious, linguistic and regional politics is very common. If you are really hard working and productive, expect yourself to be exploited. You will go on working only to find worthless people get promoted and rewarded. Every single section of the India society is simply looking for a easy way to get ahead even if that means blatantly cheating your way through. Given these circumstances its hardly surprising why good people just want to move out settle outside India.

kopter 12y ago
Yup, and it only makes it that much harder for Indian students who want to separate themselves from the herd and try to be honest hard-working individuals.

ruppy 12y ago

I read some of the comments here that attribute the problem to the lack of resources or the communal good. I respectfully disagree. The main problem in India is the outdated system. Most Indian kids have plenty of resources available to them and most parents in India would go hungry as compared to not provide the needed educational resources that were needed by the kids. Also, most Indian kids are super competitive and they have to be when their parents are always asking their rank in class. Having said that, I don't think it really matters over the long term. Here is my personal experience: Growing up in India, cheating was not only accepted but encouraged. I did my high school in India and during the big board exams, I was one of very few students who didn't cheat - out of 200. Why? My dad (and some of the other parents) told us that if we cheated, they will kill us. During the exams, the teachers that were proctoring the exam came up to us repeatedly and asked if we needed help and trust me, it was tempting because you don't want to fall behind someone who is cheating. There were and are a few factors at play. One is the emphasis on year-end exams. They are the only means of determining the students' performance. No papers to write, no projects, nothing else. Teachers are rated only on the success of their students in these year-end exams. Competition is very high. Parents (admittedly not all) are willing to do anything to help their kids get ahead. If you go to a school during exam time, very often you will see parents standing outside trying to pass notes through windows etc. I have heard of people who hid phones under their turbans in the exams and all kind of other crazy stories. Now, here is why I don't think it matters. In the short term cheaters scored better but in the longer run, the few of us that didn't cheat came out ahead (small community so I know most of the people and where they are now). In hindsight, I am very glad that my dad didn't allow me to cheat. After that experience, I went to undergrad and grad school in the US and I did see cheating - Indians, Chinese, Americans - everyone cheated, some more blatantly than the others. It didn't bother me because I strongly believed that in the longer terms those that didn't (and don't) cheat will come out ahead. So far, I haven't seen anything that has disproved that hypothesis.

jqm 12y ago

You can cheat on exams, but you can't cheat when it comes to to produce. You either do, or you don't do it. It's like stealing. You might get by doing it, a few people might get by, but everyone can't steal for a living. Somewhere, someone has to be making the things that are stolen. And somewhere, someone has to have ideas and knowledge and drive to implement solutions. Everyone can't simply bullshit their way through life. But some people never figure this out.

nileshtrivedi 12y ago

600 students have been expelled over this incident: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/03/20/600-indian-students-expelled-after-footage-shows-parents-scaling-walls-to-pass/?intcmp=trending http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/03/20/600-indian-students-...