[this is not very related to science but it is an issue I feel very strongly about. This was my essay for the Ethics and Corruption in the public sector course I took during my Masters in Public Policy.]
1. DESCRIPTION
One of the behaviours that negatively
affect an educational system is the very high levels of students’
academic dishonesty. This is especially the case for written examinations, the
main assessment procedure in both high-school and university level education in
Greece.
Academic dishonesty is a very dangerous
type of corruption because it happens when people are at such a young age, at
the stage when they learn how to think, try to find out what they believe in
and develop into the people that they will eventually become. If a behaviour is
perceived as correct or normal at this stage, it is more likely that it will be
repeated for the rest of the life of the individual, or even be transferred in
situations outside education. By adopting such a corrupt behaviour at such an
early stage, young people are more likely to be corrupt as adults as
well.
Academic dishonesty in the context of
written examinations exists in many forms. Students can increase their chances
of getting good grades by finding out the questions before the exam, copying
from other students during the exam, copying from material brought into the
exam room (notes in the bag, on the floor, in pencil cases, etc), from texts written
on their hands, arms, thighs etc, and/or using technology (e.g. using mobile
phones to obtain answers from the internet or from friends at home) or even by sending
someone else to sit the exam for them. All these forms of cheating are used to
great extents depending on the situation.
The focus of this essay will be university
students who are performing any of the above behaviours during their higher
education studies. They are the ones who initiate and benefit from the
corrupted act of cheating in written examinations. The alarming trend that served as inspiration
for this essay is the increasing number of university students that consider cheating
as an integral and justified part of their studies, even a right. The majority
of students nowadays consider it completely independent of corruption.
