The bizarre photograph in which people hung precariously from window sills and perched on narrow ledges, flinging cheat sheets into the exam hall where their children or friends were grappling with question papers, may have caused a lot of jaws to drop elsewhere in India and abroad but no one in Bihar is particularly staggered at the idea of exams as a community enterprise. Bihar's students have been practising the Open Book Exam long before the West stumbled on the idea. In fact, in this school of exam giving everyone is invited to help — parents, family, neighbourhood, tutors and even teachers.
The practice of cheating at the intermediate and matriculation examinations started sometime in the late '60s when in the wake of student agitations, youth power found a new meaning in the state. Over the next decades, cheating was polished to a fine, flagrant art.
Exams, recalls S Kumar, who grew up in Munger, used to be carnival time around the town's four government schools. Thousands would descend during the exam mela.
The modus operandi was for a "helper" to nip into the school, get the answer and question sheets out, sit in the shade of the verandahs of hospitable homes and write the exam along with helping hands chipping in with inspiration, hot chai and moral support.
"At least four people would accompany babua in his tryst to clear the paper — the father or any elderly male from the family, a sprightly kid who could scurry fast into the school and fetch the paper, one brainy guy can answer the questions and often, a concerned and caring neighbour, he recalls. "As an English speaker I used to be in great demand.In return, you get plied with samosa and rasgulla."
The escort party with a student does whatever it takes to either ensure that the entire paper is answered outside while the student patiently sits at his desk or sends in correct answers for him to copy. Officially, the exams lasted three hours but as long as you dropped the answer sheets off at the school before 5pm, you were safe. "Sab utaar liye kya (have you copied everything)?" the anxious question went around as the sun dipped on the horizon.
The onus of a great performance thus depends on the support system. It isn't rare to hear a petulant kid tick off his heartbroken father outside: "I told you there would be questions from Chapter 10 but you wouldn't listen." The rot spread so deep that in the 1990s, the Patna high court was compelled to intervene in the matter and conduct the matriculation exam, recalls a retired government schoolteacher MK Rai. "After that, there were fewer reports of unfair means being practised by state board students," he claims. But the photograph that went viral last week clearly shows that organized cheating is still deeply entrenched in the state's education system.
Last year, about 1,200 students were expelled for using unfair means while this year, 766 students have already been expelled from March 17 to 19. "But things are not like that everywhere," counters an indignant invigilator at a school in West Champaran.
The matriculation exam is the first benchmark in the life of a Bihar student and a 'matric pass' commands much respect in the countryside. In fact, in the 1970s, the government of Karpoori Thakur announced that a student, no matter if he or she failed in English in matric examinations, would be deemed as 'matric pass'. Consequently 'Karpoori division' became a household word.
It is not that examinees elsewhere in the country are beyond using unfair means — or that there are no honest examiness in Bihar — but students who have been through the state board system say they would stick out like a sore thumb if they didn't cheat. "How is it cheating? It isn't that one-fourth or half the room is cheating. If everyone is cheating and you don't, well, you feel cheated, no?" It is hard to find fault with that comeback.
Once the photograph went viral, the state response was defensive. State education minister PK Shahi said the government was helpless in dealing with the situation. The board chairman reportedly pinned the responsibility for the fair conduct of exams on district magistrates.
Objecting to this, Patna high court and Bihar Human Rights Commission on Friday directed the state government to ensure free and fair conduct of matriculation exams. Unless every one of the 14 lakh students appearing for the matric exam this year was cheating, why couldn't the state government control the situation, asked the panel.
CM Nitish Kumar maintains that the photographs "do not present a complete picture...Bihari students have a lot of talent and have carved a space for themselves in the country and abroad".
Outraged at the response to the scam, teachers in Patna point out that a large number of Bihar students clear competitive exams every year without gaming any system. Ironically enough, that is true as well.
On Your Marks....
A failsafe four-step formula has traditionally ensured success in exams in Bihar. According to insiders, this is how it works:
1. Find and break the man who is setting the paper: This is not very easy but that doesn't deter most aspirants.You first use all the resources at your disposal to find the man and then drop in with a dabba of mithai and other inducements. You could befriend, cajole, flatter or even threaten the guy into coughing up critical information.
2. Find the printing press: If Step 1 failed, you sniff out the press -easy enough in a small city. Thereafter you follow the formula given above.
3. Fix a friendly exam centre: Land a centre in a town or village where your uncle is a biggie or where your clan has clout, and life becomes even easier. Children are known to travel miles for a smooth setting for Steps 1-4.
4. Charm the evaluator: Find out who is checking the paper. This is a win-all step that ensures smooth sailing even if you muffed all other steps. The answer to the question -"paper kahan gaya" -is usually the worst-guarded secret in a school. Thereafter, you take a bus or train and do whatever it takes armed, again, with mithai and money.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...r-school-of-cheating/articleshow/46649627.cms
