India has faced a long-standing problem of cheating in university entrance exams and job recruitment. The large number of candidates competing for a small number of places creates a lucrative opportunity for exam fraud.
Spending tens of thousands of dollars to buy exam papers.
Earlier this year, hundreds of students were transported by bus to spend the night at Nature Valley Resort, a mid-range resort on the outskirts of India's capital, New Delhi. There were no parties or outdoor activities; instead, the candidates diligently studied an exam that each had paid around $15,000-$20,000, or even up to $50,000, to preview.
Those who planned and organized the fraudulent vacation have been arrested. Police filed a 900-page indictment against at least six suspects, including a police officer who had prior access to the exam due to his involvement in cheating during the police recruitment exam.
Over 4 million people took the police entrance exam in early 2024, competing for 60,000 jobs in the country's largest state, Uttar Pradesh, while 2 million people took the medical school entrance exam for around 100,000 spots. Both exams were marred by irregularities. According to Ashok Rathore, a police investigator into fraud in India's medical school exams, exam papers were sold at exorbitant prices in 2024.
According to Indian police, these cheating rings can earn millions of dollars. Vivek Pandey, a student activist who has filed lawsuits against exam cheating, said: “It’s a money game. Anyone with money can buy these exam papers. Deserving students feel demoralized.”
Harsheen Khera, 17, studied diligently but failed her medical school entrance exam in May. Khera's score wasn't low, but it was pushed down due to an unusually high number of candidates this year. Soon, murmurs of unease among students erupted into accusations, street protests, and lawsuits. Khera painfully stated, “After years of hard work, all I got was cheating and fraud.” In India, the path to university is largely through written exams, making scores a decisive factor in success. The exam also provides opportunities for candidates to secure government jobs amidst a shortage of good jobs in the private sector.
Find ways to prevent it.
Exam scandals are becoming a major issue for the Indian government . In Uttar Pradesh, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party lost its majority to the opposition coalition in this year's national elections. Some young voters believe the shocking result is partly due to anger over the police recruitment exam, which, under pressure, was later declared invalid.
Exam cheaters engage in various forms of cheating. In some cases, candidates have others answer for them or secretly bring mobile phones into the exam room. However, most cheating occurs before candidates enter the exam room, often through organized cheating rings operating as cram schools and planting informants within departments that have access to the answer key.
There have also been cases where cheating rings sent people to printing houses to steal exam papers. In 2022, India's federal investigators arrested a Russian national for allegedly hacking the software of the entrance exams for India's top engineering schools so that some candidates could remotely grant others access to take the exams on their behalf.
The Indian government has implemented a range of measures, including attempts to block internet access and the installation of surveillance cameras inside exam rooms to deter cheating; a new law enacted this year stipulates prison sentences of up to 10 years for those who facilitate cheating.
In June, as allegations of fraud in the medical school entrance exam intensified, New Delhi replaced the head of the national examination authority that conducted the exam. In late August, the state of Uttar Pradesh re-held its police recruitment exam, this time with enhanced security measures including fingerprinting, iris scanning, and facial recognition to verify candidates' identities, as well as drone surveillance.
Cameras streamed live feeds from the exam centers to the control room, and the exam materials containers were monitored at all times. Everyone was quite pleased with the results afterward.
Compiled by THUY VU
Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/an-do-chan-chinh-nan-gian-lan-thi-cu-post759110.html
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