Cheating at school

Extract

[...] Causes of Cheating Family and social pressures are the main causes of cheating in assessment tests and exams in education. Family pressures are greater in school education, while social pressures are greater in higher education. The competition encourages the subject to acquire cheating skills: this can go as far as "anything goes" In addition to this, the subject develops feelings of selfishness. As the educational methods employed in the Algerian education system aim to instill a competitive spirit in pupils and students, this constitutes one of the causes of school and university cheating. [...]

[...] Threats of sanctions and punishments, however severe they may be, do not dissuade all those who commit crimes from committing their crimes. Only education and raising the cultural level can substantially reduce delinquency and crime. The philosophical approach to school and higher education must change. An educational revolution is also needed. You go to school and university to learn, grow, develop communication skills, and learn to think and analyze, train in the exercise of citizenship with a critical and constructive spirit. [...]

[...] To operate this transformation, the education system must evolve pedagogically. Transmissive, alienating and competition-based pedagogy must give way to genuinely active pedagogy which inculcates the spirit of cooperation, develop the spirit of analysis, allow the subjects to acquire real skills and knowledge. Teachers will have to be trained in methods that will make these young people want to be educated, cultivated and trained. Modern educational tools and content that will interest and motivate pupils and students will be needed. It will thus be possible to put in place evaluation methods that will drastically reduce cheating and avoid, at the same time, its consequences. [...]

[...] The systems that are put in place to assess pupils and students, in particular the most prominent such as the baccalaureate or the college diploma, awaken in a certain number of students an "awareness" of fraud. Exam centers turn into bunkers, teachers into police officers, and student candidates turn into potential cheaters. Mobilizing tens of thousands of gendarmes and police officers to organize the baccalaureate exams can only be a temporary and ad hoc solution; it cannot be made sustainable. Means to Fight Against Cheating This is the example that is the primary strength of education. Adults must set an example for young people by behaving honestly in their family, social and professional life. [...]

[...] This cheating affects both students (for their homework and dissertations) and teachers (for their theses and publications). Ethics are losing more and more ground. Motivations of Cheaters The overwhelming majority of pupils and students cheat in order to pass their exams or to get the best possible marks. There are those who do it to satisfy other motivations such as when they want to challenge a harsh teacher or the "system": it is a form of subversion. There are some who cheat just for the fun of it. [...]