Novel methods of cheating, some hi-tech and others age-old tricks, have been uncovered during the ongoing General Secondary School Certificate examinations.
The most enterprising endeavour, said education sources, was by a desperate 40-year-old student, trying to pass his examinations for the umpteenth time. Here are some tricks that were nipped in the bud thanks to hawk-eyed invigilators:
Quite a mouthful
On the second day of the examinations on Monday, a 40-year-old student in Al Ain was caught wearing a wireless device in his broken tooth. The student had already been reprimanded the day before after he was caught trying to use a mobile phone to cheat.
Undaunted, he decided to use what he thought was a foolproof method, a 6mm hearing device. An inspector noticed that the man kept whispering. He searched the student, and was shocked to discover the device.
A case of transparency
Remember 'cog sheets' or tailor-made slips of paper with answers written on them? Even those have been upgraded. Instead of standard papers, students use transparent stickers. The writing on these stickers can only be seen at a certain angle and most get past the eyes of examiners.
The stickers are usually sold at bookshops that aim at making a quick buck. Invigilators were suspicious when students' heads were bent at an angle.
Talking kandura
Another student was disqualified from the examinations after he was found wearing a kandura (attire for Arab men) that had a headset for a mobile phone sewn on it. The device was sewn on the sleeve and was connected to the phone, which the student was hiding in his pocket.
His modus operandi was to rest his head on his hand and he would bring the device near his ear and hear the answers. He was caught after an inspector noticed he was putting his sleeve to his ear.
It's all in the head dress
Another student was equally innovative. He wrapped a special headset wire around his chest. The headset was hidden underneath his gotra (head dress). However, the headset got disconnected. He went to the toilet to fix it, and when he came back, he was searched.
Wheel of fortune
A handicapped student was disqualified after examiners found out that his wheelchair had notes written all over it. Adil Ahmed, headmaster of a school in Al Ain, said over 50 students did not attend examinations on the second day after they realised invigilators were diligent.
In Ras Al Khaimah, three students were yesterday caught cheating using mobile phones. They hid the earplugs under their gotras. They asked the instructor to read the question because they did not understand it. People on the other end of the phone heard the questions and supplied answers.
POINT OF VIEW
'Are they students or international spies?'
Adil Ahmed, the headmaster of a school in Al Ain, says he read about such devices were going to be used by international spy agencies in future. "But our students are already using these technology," he says.
"It is shocking the way some students have no shame about cheating. They distribute slips of paper among themselves before they enter the examination hall. They are so lazy that they don't even bother to write the slips, but buy them ready," he says.
With additional inputs from Nasouh Nazzal
Gulf News
