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News => Education => Post UTME | Admission News => Topic started by: gideon saviour on April 23, 2018, 07:16:34 pm


Title: 10 REASONS WHY STUDENTS CHEAT IN EXAMS
Post by: gideon saviour on April 23, 2018, 07:16:34 pm


Cheating can sometimes have serious
consequences, such as obtaining a failing
grade, probation, suspension, and a negative
mark about your conduct on permanent record.
Also, the cheating student will never really learn
the coursework, which puts him/her at a
disadvantage over time, leading to low self-
esteem. Counseling, creating an honor code,
changes in question papers, strict monitoring,
and severe punishments for cheating are some
of the solutions to solving this problem.
Why Do Students Cheat?
1. Greater/Excessive Competition:
Nowadays, due to greater competition, anything
less than a top grade is considered tantamount
to failure. A poor grade in school is enough to
put a massive dent in the child’s career path.
Thus, the fear of a poor future brings in a belief
of excelling at any cost, prompting a student to
resort to cheating.
2. Too Many Material To Cover/Heavy Academic
Workbook:
Since the academic system emphasizes more
on standardized tests rather than how much an
individual has actually learned, a lot of the
syllabus is very cumbersome, with too much
workload squeezed into each semester. Poorly
explained concepts by teachers and a multitude
of consecutive tests are difficult to handle. So,
when a student sees that his peers are at an
advantage by cheating, he/she also does the
same.
3. Pressure:
Apart from peers and teachers, parents are also
guilty of pressuring their child to constantly be
the best. Also, since students having part-time
jobs or suffering illnesses are not able to
prepare well for exams, their chances for higher
education or jobs is reduced, which forces them
to cheat to save themselves.
4. Financial Aid:
A high GPA not only ensures financial aid in the
form of scholarships, but can also make the
student eligible for athletic qualifications. In the
case of students with poor financial
backgrounds, this becomes very important, and
they may resort to cheating for acquiring a
good score.
5. Unfair/Strict Teacher:
Overly strict grading in tests, extremely tough
exams designed to fail students, and teachers
giving out an unreasonably high amount of
course work during each semester, can frustrate
students. Unable to cope with performance
pressure, students will cheat in order to get by
and complete their studies as required.
6. Poor Attendance/Lack Of Effort:
Students who are not sincere have poor
attendance in class and leave their exam
preparations to the last minute. With exams just
a few days away, the nerves and the
ramifications of failing become clear as there is
not enough time for preparation. As a last
resort, students look for ways to cheat and get
through. When done repeatedly, cheating
becomes a habit.
7. Peer Influence:
Often the relationship of friends and other social
groups, such as fraternities, can take
precedence over morals and ethics. To help out
people in one’s social circle is a natural
response. However, it can lead to cheating by
sharing what each person knows. The exam
becomes a test of group knowledge rather than
that of an individual’s.
8. Chance/Opportunity For Cheating:
During an examination, students may
occasionally come across unexpected
opportunities to cheat. The invigilator may have
left the exam hall, or was lax in his duties, or a
neighboring student did not cover the paper
properly. In such cases, the student might feel
tempted to use this to obtain a few more marks,
and thereby, gain an edge over his/her peers.
9. Lack Of Enforcement Of Rules:
Children who see that cheating is a norm rather
than the exception are likely to cheat too. Lack
of enforcement of rules makes the environment
of the institution friendly to cheats since no one
gets caught and punished. The situation grows
from bad to worse when teachers and parents
openly encourage such behavior.
10. Inadequate Preperation:
Most students do not prepare for their exam,
when it comes, he/she will end up looking for
where to peep in someone else work.