Karnataka: College Made Students Don Cardboard Boxes to Stop Cheating
BENGALURU: The shocking incident, which took place on Wednesday, came to light when a video clip showing students of the co-educated private college writing the exams wearing cartons ostensibly to prevent them copying went viral on the social media on Friday
About 50 students of a pre-university college in Karnataka were forced to wear cartons to avoid copying in exams, an official said on Saturday.The front side of the cartons were, however, were cut for the students to breathe and see but not peep left or right to see the answer sheets of the other students seated on the same bench.
“A notice has been issued to Bhagat Pre-University College seeking explanation for forcing its students wear cardboard boxes (cartons) while writing exams to prevent them from copying,” a Haveri district Deputy Director of Public Instruction (DDPI) official told on phone. Haveri is 335 km from Bengaluru in the state’s northwest region.
The shocking incident, which took place on Wednesday, came to light when a video clip showing students of the co-educated private college writing the exams wearing cartons ostensibly to prevent them copying went viral on the social media on Friday. The students were writing papers in economics and chemistry subjects as part of the mid-term exams, conducted in their classroom.
Reacting to the incident, state Education Minister S. Suresh Kumar said that such an attempt was not acceptable. “Nobody has any right to treat anybody more so students like animals. This perversion will be dealt with aptly,” tweeted Kumar.
Defending the preventive action, college head M.B. Satish told the media that a college in Bihar had used a similar method to check rampant copying during exams and was widely appreciated on social media.”We tried to see how it works as a trial and told the students in advance that boxes would be given to each of them to wear before writing the exam,” he added.
Many on social media echoed the views of the state education minister. “This is ridiculous and humiliating for the students. Yes, cheating is a problem, but this is not the way to solve it. Whoever approved this should be reprimanded,” wrote a user.
The state government immediately issued a notice to the college and sought an explanation about why the students were made to wear cardboard boxes — the move was confirmed by Deputy Director of Public Instruction Department, SS Piraje.
“We have clearly told the management to give a written explanation and if this kind of incident is repeated in the future, the department will cancel the license of the school,” Piraje said.( With Agency Inputs ).
