What a disgrace!

With the commencement of the School Leaving Certificate (SLC) examination, a sense of déjà vu has engulfed the country: The all too familiar scenes of gross irregularities that take place in the various exam centers of the country every year is being repeated with near impunity this time as well. And, perhaps, the outcry by the media about this brazen display of shamelessness will once again only serve to ruffle a few feathers while the root causes of the endemic will continue to remain unaddressed. Hence, it should come as no surprise to our readers if we are forced to write a similar editorial at around this time next year too.



Let us cite just a few examples to give a sense of how bad the situation is: A girl in Kanya Higher Secondary School in Janakpur was caught on camera using her cell phone in the exam hall (the photograph was carried in this daily’s Friday edition). She was obviously being supplied answers by a willing accomplice at the other end. In Bara, 20 examinees were expelled on the charge of cheating.



Out of them, two were fake examinees. In Morang, an exam superintendent, Dr Uddhab Pokhrel, was arrested for leaking question papers before the exams began. In Banke, Assistant Principal of Adarsha Higher Secondary School, Sharad Rawal, was arrested for providing photocopies of answers to examinees. Elsewhere in Humla, District Education Officer, Dharma Jeet Shah was attacked by students and parents because he instructed exam guards to keep a strong vigil. Atrocious, isn’t it? And, yet, what we can safely presume here is that these reported instances of irregularities are just the tip of the iceberg.



Why is there no dearth of students willing to cheat and an equally large number of people willing to aid the students toward this end? First, it is obviously the feeling among them that they can do anything and everything and yet get away it. This is where we have failed. Moral lessons alone on why it is bad to cheat will never completely act as a deterrent. The state has to step in authoritatively where it has to. But the larger question is: Why are students willing to put everything in jeopardy to get through the so-called ‘iron gate’?



Perhaps, it is either because we as a society look down upon failures or because they have no other reasonable alternative route to move up the social ladder. If we are able to develop alternative career routes, other than the strictly formal education channel, and reassure the students that failing the SLC is not the end of the world, we will probably have taken the first step toward addressing this menace. This problem, like almost every other, is certainly more complex than it looks.

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