2 weeks Ago By Mid-day
Maharashtra School Education Minister Dadaji Bhuse recently said his department aims to conduct ‘copy-free examinations’ irrespective of whether students wear a burqa or not, according to the news agency Press Trust of India. He was responding to a query about Fisheries Minister Nitesh Rane’s letter to him seeking a ban on wearing burqa by students during the Std X and XII board exams, to be held this month, to curb copying. Bhuse has claimed that cameras have been extensively installed and there the police’s presence will be beefed up.
While a ban on burqas during exams is a subject of debate, we look at the copying scenario and students increasingly resorting to devious means while taking tests. It is evident that as technology continues to evolve, those who cheat and those whose job it is to to nab them are locked in a race. The former will use the latest gadgets to try and get ahead in the rat race by copying while the latter will have to wise up and keep abreast of the times.
While the minister has assured people that more surveillance and police presence will ensure fair exams, it is time to work on mindsets. Youngsters, especially in schools must be taught that, never mind the punishment, cheating is unfair and wrong. That message must be given strongly, through lectures, seminars and talks with teachers.
They must be told that it is not okay to cheat merely because others do so, and one cannot and must not give in to peer pressure. If so-called friends call you a wet blanket, for not cheating, do not cave in. The aforementioned term or similar derogatory terms hurled in your direction must not make you cross over to the dark side.
Technology is all very well, but it is the mind and heart that must remind us to play by the rules and never resort to unfair means to get ahead..
