USE OF UNFAIR MEANS (CHEATING) IN PUBLIC EXAMINATION

Introduction

Parliament passed the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act (PEA), 2024. The Act deals with unfair means adopted or offences committed by various entities involved in conducting public examinations by the Central Government and its agencies.

Stakeholders, their interest in public examination and the impact of cheating 

Ethical reasonings against cheating in examinations

• Violates deontological ethics: Students have adopted unfair means (cheating) for favourable ends (results).
• Against Utilitarianism: Cheating does not serve the Society and does not satisfy its interests as people who are not capable of providing the needed knowledge and services are given positions.
• Violates Categorical Imperative: As per Immanuel Kant’s categorical imperative one should only act in accordance with rules that could hold for everyone.
  • It would be reasonable to conclude that the would-be cheaters should not want to have inferior care and services from providers who cheated their way into positions.

• Justice as Fairness Principle: Cheating violates human liberties and equality of opportunities and supports unjust differences.
• Virtue Ethics: Virtues of truth, trust, and excellence of character do not support deception or dishonesty.

Reasons for cheating in examinations

• Ambiguous attitudes: Parents and teachers sometimes support a culture that is accepting of cheating, such as allowing students to plagiarise.
• Competitive and societal pressures: In today's increasingly competitive atmosphere, doing well in exams is becoming more and more important for survival.
  • Further, success is often measured by whether a student has a passing grade rather than the ability to complete the learning process with integrity.
• Delayed justice: There is a general perception of the judicial system being slow and ineffective, lessening the fear of repercussions. 
• High-end technology: Cheaters have access to many devices helping in cheating like spy mics, Bluetooth devices, and so on.
• Institutional apathy: Lack of proper monitoring systems to curb the use of unfair means and absence of appropriate punishments may further encourage cheating.
• Ambition and Pursuit of self-interest: Students may intentionally cheat to gain an unjust advantage over others. 
  • Further, other entities may assist in cheating for monetary gains.
• Altruistic cheating: A person may use unfair means to benefit someone else, such as parents using monetary means to help out their children in an examination, friends helping out each other etc..

Way forward

• Technologically based solutions: New strategies need to be considered and employed to better manage the advancement of technology use for illegitimate purposes.
  • For instance, the government decided to set up a High-level National Technical Committee on Public Examinations to develop protocols for insulating digital platforms.
• Social stigma towards cheating: Value-based education and making use of role models should be used to build negative attitudes towards cheating in society.
• Parental Involvement: Parents should support their children's learning without resorting to unethical practices making ethical learning at home.