I REFER to your reports headlined “UPSR Science moved to Sept 30” and “Ministry, police to probe UPSR leak” (NST, Sept 11).
Parents, teachers, academicians and the public are flabbergasted by the UPSR Science paper leak.
Now, there is an overwhelming call to use the Official Secrets Act (OSA) to bring perpetrators to book as this has gone on for far too long.
A group of former teachers told me the disease has penetrated all levels of our educational system. It is a long-standing issue that needs to be addressed by the Education Ministry and the police.
Examination malpractice and cheating is defined as a deliberate wrongdoing contrary to official examination rules, designed to place candidates at an unfair advantage or disadvantage.
As what Parents Action Group for Education chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said: “Tuition centres could be a contributing party for the demand for leaked examination papers to gain a competitive edge over their rival tuition centres.”
Laziness, inadequate preparation for examinations, pupils not taking their studies seriously, indolence, dependence on fraudulent means to make it without any hard work. These are the root causes of this fiasco.
The malefactors involved in this social evil include corrupt government officials, indulgent parents, guardians, teachers, peer groups, security agents and school administrators.
Examination malpractice and cheating has become a profitable business aided and abetted by corrupt examination officials and
supported by shortsighted parents.
This parasite ravaging our educational sector can only be eradicated by a national consciousness characterised by integrity, honesty and hard work.
Students should be assiduous and develop an interest in learning rather than be bored by studies.
Parents should have a genuine reason for every sen spent on their children’s education because any student who goes to school through the window will also be thrown out through the window either by rustication or expulsion.
The Examinations Syndicate should be sanitised and officials of unquestionable character be employed.
Finger prints and photographs should be used as security for exam papers.
The government should pay more attention to the education system because intellectual capital is the brain behind economic and socio-political growth.
Effective harsh penalties, such as the OSA, should be imposed on those who carry out exam leaks and cheating.
They should be imprisoned for at least seven years and not one year as stated in the OSA 1972.
Let’s work together to sanitise our education system.
C. Sathasivam Sitheravellu,Seremban, Negri Sembilan