The news items that filled press pages during the exam period were students caught cheating.

The news was not limited to newspapers in Rwanda only. Similar stories filled the pages of Uganda’s The New Vision and Daily Monitor while Daily Nation of Kenya also reported similar stories.

The columnist of Teacher’s Mind that run on 14, Nov, 2007 noted that cheating in exams seems to be an illustration of a structural problem of our education system, where too much importance is placed on the passing of examinations.

This compels students to do everything they can to see to it that they pass their final exams.

The students and their schools are under pressure to produce wonderful results.

This scenario certainly presents cheating as a viable option for many who dread the prospect of failure and those who clamour for cheap success.

One fact for sure is that, it is not wise for us to continue utilising a system that tests candidates in only three hours things that they have toiled to learn for three years!

The columnist went ahead to suggest solutions to curb the cancer of examination malpractice which I think are very effective.

A better way of testing students is using continuous assessment tests and other forms of examinations to determine candidates’ ability.

This may go a long way in helping to minimise the cut-throat competition that is now a trademark of final examinations and is also a fair way of judging a student’s ability.

NYAMIRAMBO