Thoughts, feelings and emotions that hopefully provoke the purest of minds...Capturing thoughts through written words is like capturing pictures on film or digital camera.
Cheating on exams is rampant in Cambodia. I am trying to explore the depth of why kids now aday resort to cheating to pass their exams. It is just beyond belief that Ministry of Education has to deploy military police and police to safeguard examination sites to insure more cheating can take place.
In the age of modern technologies; such as cellphones capable of taking pics, live telecast, and instant messaging; cheating is probably at its best and tough to catch.
You probably wonder why these kids are cheating? They are amongst the brightest and smartest of what we have in contemporary Cambodia. They do it because it is easy, fun, admissible, accessible and the systems are so weak that they see it as penetrable and thrilling. Why study hard if you know that you will be able to get a quick fixed on the day of the examination? Those potential bad students choose the easy way out...It is nothing more than a mockery of the systems if we have not found that out? Wake up! My fellow adults and smell the potential impact for once..!!
Let's look at the root causes:
Family Values - Many people value education. That is the fundamental truth about Khmers. Most parents want nothing more that having their children educated and doing well. The desire to have the children do well sometimes lead many parents to commit something that they already knew is wrong and they do it because they love their children too much.
Most parents will not accept the fact that their children be left behind and not have a passing grade during the examination season. Parents are willing to do anything so that their children get the passing grade; inclusive of bribing teachers indirectly and directly. Shockingly will encourage cheating on exams.
From my observation; the people that are passing cheat notes are relatives of the examinees. Hence, it is encouraged and pre-meditated by family members.
I used to live next to an educated man who till this day is a prominent member in Ministry of Education. Every season before examination day; he has a steady stream of visitors (parents) coming over to his house with different packages. He got extremely rich from those packages but I do not think that he gives a hoot about the detrimental affects on future generations?
The Systems - If we look at our educational systems, in reality it is one damned good system. We adapted some of most advanced books, literatures and other educational programs the world over, from the help of organizations such as UNDP, UNESCO and other Development Partners.
The implementation is a problem. The corrupted individuals are the issues who are giving Ministry of Education a bad name. It is a network of getting rich quick schemes. To these individuals, they do not care about any thing but how to further attain and secure their luxurious life style.
The Environments - Ways of life in today's Cambodia are about getting things the easy way; especially true for those that are living in the competitive environment of the major urban cities. It is about buying positions to be able to reap immediate benefits. It is about gaining power at the expense of others. Hence, the relationship between education and power come hand in hand. The certificate/degree typically is the precondition of jobs as civil servant or in the private sector.
Don't get me wrong, not all Cambodians are bad and getting their degrees or certificates through cheating; but I am illustrating the point about cheating and why we perpetuate it?
Henceforth, when we have an environment that perpetuates cheating; then our mental processes are conditioned to accept and encourage these cheating behaviors.
My thoughts about how we can eliminate cheating...
Family Values - It has to start with the family. The cheating will stop when all parents refused to accept that cheating is acceptable. No more money or gift should exchange hands. Teacher appreciation can be done in a collective manner where teachers are appreciated for their hard works and dedications. We must spend more time with our children with their homeworks and instill with them the moral principle of education and its value. Encourage them to take part time jobs to get them to learn the value of hard works and earning money. We must form and learn to appreciate programs such as parent teacher association where teachers and parents can come together to exchange ideas and thoughts. Through these kinds of programs; relationship is fostered which will encourage openness and honesty.
The Systems - The Ministry of Education and the Government must assess the problems to understand their root causes. The who and what must be identified. Corrupted individuals should be prosecuted like traitors against our nation. It is a serious crime that will have implication for generations to come. Strict measures must be in place because Ministry of Education must be the Model to all of ministries. Teachers and educators must properly compensated for their works to avoid corrupted practices.
It is my belief that if we can rectify these two problems; we will be able to alleviate problems of cheating in our schools. Our children and future generations will be able to compete locally, regionally, and the world. In summary, it is each and every one of our responsibility to make it right.
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