CHEATING IN PNG SCHOOLS

There is a report in The National by Dr Musawe Sinebare about cheating in the schools of PNG. It is a most disturbing report on the extent of cheating by students supported at times by parents, teachers, headmasters and officers in the Measurement Services Unit.

It is the extent of cheating that is most fearful. The writer includes cults that seek to have the brighter students complete assignments for the less able students. This means that cults are very much part of the school scene particularly in any collusion with corrupt teachers.

To keep up the standard in internal assessment supported by cheating, the less capable students have to resort to cheating in the external exams.

As well as obtaining exam papers and solutions at a cost, there is also the practice of seeking to falsify certificates by bribing officers of the Measurement Services Unit. Exam papers are smuggled out of the MSU to be sold on the street.

Cheating shows disrespect for authority. There are students whose focus in schools is not on the quality of their study but on marijuana, homebrew and cults. They have committed themselves to cheating.

The problem is that so few students find a place at the universities. There was another report in The National that stated that out of 23,000 students completing grade 12 this year, only 4000-5000 would enter tertiary institutions.

This nation is facing a crisis in education. To make matters worse, only a small proportion of university graduates will find employment.