Who wants to fail? No one, not even little kids, as they too struggle to come first in simple tasks they indulge in with their peers. But who has taught them to fight for number one position and cry bitterly when they don’t get it? Is it the world which glorifies number one and ignores all the rest regardless of the immense effort put in to gain the achievement?

For some individuals, just getting the guts to participate and complete an event in itself is a huge achievement and yet this process is not acknowledged. Our education systems do not help either; examinations at the end of primary school level; for instance, focus on the end product rather than the individual’s achievement over the years. This burning desire to win at all cost – even at the loss of integrity or honesty builds up. Is it any wonder then that students start to cheat?

While chatting with some students, I asked them how cheating was done and they came up with very ingenious answers. One explained that they tape the notes on the back of their shirts and wear a sweater over the shirt. While in the exam room they just take it off for the person behind them to read the answers. Others tap out the answers in a sort of Morse code while attempting tests that have multiple choice questions. The ways vary, but inventive as they are, it is still cheating!

I then asked them (students) what they thought the purpose of the examination is and they recognised that it is to test what and how much they had learned. When I pointed out that it seemed self-defeating if they cheated and their results did not reveal their actual knowledge, they defended their actions through various arguments.

Some said the teachers do not teach effectively and that when they ask them (teachers) to repeat certain things, they are told off in statements like, ‘Are you stupid?’ or ‘Pay more attention’. Others complain that their parents will harass them for failing the examinations and so they would rather cheat than face their parent’s wrath. Fitting in a society that preaches that you have to be right all the time is another reason, and with peer pressure how can they dare fail? And so, the pressure to cheat increases.

Way forward

First, teach students how to think, reason and analyse. If they are critical thinkers, it does not matter what the examination requires from them. They will be able to think through whatever challenge it is and cheating would not cross their minds. Some curricula, such as the Cambridge and the International Baccalaureate, teach these skills. Consequently, some of their examinations such as the language examinations are designed in such a way that makes them impossible to cheat.

A student either knows how to think and process the information to arrive at the required conclusion or they do not! This calls for learning of skills over a period of time which culminates into a considered response from the student not just a copy and paste of information from the notes onto the examination paper. There is a focus on the process of gaining the information rather than only the end product. ‘The end justifies the means’ attitude must be eradicated if there is to be significant change in the nature of students produced.

Secondly, incorporate memory techniques into their learning to enable them to retrieve information when it is necessary. Writings, such as ‘Effective Memory Techniques’ (authored by me), would be an invaluable resource in this area. Even the weakest learner will be able to recall the required information very easily.

Another approach is the need to make a deliberate effort to change the culture of praising dishonesty and encouraging lying. A child who is ‘creative with the truth’ is labelled ‘shrewd’ or ‘smart’ thus giving him the license to continue this evil practice into their future studies, private lives and at their work places. In the adult world, a person who lies or cheats and gets away with it is tagged as a hero – even when the young ones are hearing. Is it any wonder then that they begin to appreciate cheating as a means to an end?

Ensuring that the literature available to young ones, both oral and written, depicts ‘truth’ as a virtue not something for losers can also help. In some of these books, the characters (animal or human) depict being sneaky and foxy as the qualities that will take you far in life. The other reading that is done is from social media where most of the content isn’t any better.

Cheating must therefore be called by its right name: Lying - not ‘telling a white lie’ or ‘being creative with the truth’!

Lois Nakibuuka is an experienced educator