Amidst widespread reports of mass cheating in exams in several parts of the country over the recent few months, an incident in a college in Uttar Pradesh has put a spotlight on how students often feel copying is not only fair, but also their right.
Around 60 students from the Keshlata Institute of Paramedical Sciences in Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh recently boycotted their exams as a mark of protest against institute officials not providing them with cheating material during their exam, states a Times of India report.
The incident unfolded at their examination centre in Rohilkhand Medical College (RMC), where the students not only refused to write the exams but also inflicted cuts on themselves stating that unlike in the past years, college officials "were not providing them cheating material." In their protest, one student also tried to hang himself.
The college authorities had to call the police to control and calm down the crowd. The examination had to be rescheduled for the night, adds the report. "Last year, too, students were facilitated with cheating material inside the examination hall.
We were merely demanding the same. Staff members rarely taught us during the session and notes downloaded from the internet were distributed among us. Teachers did not even bother to complete our syllabus," a student told the newspaper.
The institute's chairman however denied allegations of the college helping students with cheating material during exams.