Cheating at Ethiopian Schools Becoming Growing Concern

By Meron Tekleberhan

 Rightly or wrongly much has been said about the poor quality of education at all levels in Ethiopia today. It is hard to deny that students are increasingly less able to perform well on national exams even though passing grades are constantly kept in the lower quadrant of the percentile.

In relation to reduced academic performance however is another growing problem that is as much a threat to the potential negative effect that it can have on the effectiveness of the educated workforce. This challenge arises from the increasingly wide acceptance of a range of cheating mechanisms on all academic fronts.

From cheating at grade schools, to coercing or seducing teachers at the elementary and tertiary levels, to bought term papers and post graduate thesis papers the idea of academic integrity seems to be a quaint anachronism on levels of academia.

A reliable source who wished to remain anonymous brings to light a particular form of institutionalized cheating with several private schools in Addis Ababa: bribing examiners to look the other way so that students can cheat to score well on national exams.

These schools are thus able to claim record numbers of high grades to attract new enrollment while the students go on to perpetuate the heritage they have received by coming with even more creative ways of  cheating in their further education.

“Many parents don’t look beyond the grades their children get and are constantly pressuring schools to ensure high grades without pausing to wonder how such grades may be achieved. Indeed it is unlikely that many parents would even recognize or care about the implications of such measures as long as their children are able to go on to higher education” noted the source.

It may be wrong to give the impression that cheating is a new thing in the academic setting said Ato Berhanu, a long time teacher at a large public school.

“In my thirty seven years of teaching, I have encountered all forms of cheating and I am sure that the more successful cheaters were never even caught. I think that the only thing that concerns me is the new attitude that students have towards being caught cheating. In the past it used to be a shameful thing for a student to be caught cheating and the stigma in and of itself used to serve as a deterrent. My current students however seem to see little wrong with cheating or even with being caught. Most of them want to say sorry and laugh it off and consider me a troublemaker for making it an issue” he noted.

Worse, and more concerning according to Haile, who claims to have had a opportunity to study the matter in some detail, is the issue of term papers and thesis for sale at the tertiary level.

“There are a selection of business and so called ‘thesis consultants’ that are doing nothing more than selling papers for various academic projects. I personally now and have spoken to many under the guise of wanting to commission a Master’s Thesis and I have found several consultants willing to perform the task at prices ranging from 4000 to 6000 birr depending on the final form that I was seeking “he said. Term papers cost much less, anything between 500 birr to 2000 birr according to Haile.

“What I particularly noted in my study of the issue for a project is the relative ease with which I was able to find these consultants and their confidence in arranging terms. I understand from this that they have little fear of any potential consequences to the service that they provide be it for them or for their clients” he added.

It is very hard to control the issue according to Negash, an instructor at a private college in Addis Ababa. “Instructors are aware of the market for term papers and indeed some of the less ethical ones may even be involved in the market, but see no way of curbing the problem unless they catch students obviously ignorant of the material they are presenting although most thesis papers that are bought from suppliers come with their own power point presentations” he said.

While the ultimate consequence of such a system is to be seen in the work place and the constant lament of employers on the incompetence of new graduates entering the work place.

Sadly, however, the trend seems to be growing ever larger in scope instead of diminishing. A new and growing front is the one that involves applications to international universities and scholarships funds.

‘Scholarship Consultants’ are officially intended to offer guidance on ways to access available scholarships and the correct procedures for applying for them’ explains Haile.

Unfortunately however this relatively benign sounding service usually includes dubious practices which mean that all aspects of the application package including the personal statements, and cover letters are prepared by the consultant for usually very steep prices he added.

While the efforts of the consultants may win their paying clients the places that they covet in the international institutions of higher education it will nonetheless not be borne out by their subsequent performance and hence will ultimately hurt the applicants as well as creating a negative image that will affect future applicants from Ethiopia.

All aspects of this problem ultimately reflect on the low confidence that students have in the system that has educated them and their desire to find shortcuts instead of doing it the hard way. What cannot be denied however is that it does not bode well for the potential that today’s students have as tomorrow’s teachers and leaders. 

___________________________________

 

Meron Tekleberhan is Addis Ababa based reporter for Ezega.com. She can be reached by sending email through this form.

View the original article here