 "How different time zones may have allowed cheating in IB exams")
The methods of cheating are evolving along with the educational system.
Students appear to memorise their questions in the age of modern cheating, share them on social media, and help fellows who are in different time zones.
Let’s take a closer look.
The time zone cheating
Students taking the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDB) (Class XII board exams) reportedly memorised their Math questions to share them on social media, potentially to help students in other time zones who hadn’t taken the tests yet.
The Leaked Math Paper Questions and Answers were initially found by the Post through links that were circulating on the Reddit internet community.
Links to questions in corporate management, global politics, mathematics, physics, computer science, biology, and chemistry were also found in screenshots of a Telegram channel, as per the South China Morning Post.
Two documents, “Paper 2 Math AA HL” and “Maths AA HL Questions,” have been downloaded by over 17,000 and 18,000 users, respectively, as of Sunday afternoon, according to a downloading website.
The “Global Politics HL Paper 2” and “Business Management Paper 1” documents had also been downloaded more than 2,000 and 8,000 times, respectively.
The four papers took place between 26 April and 2 May.
The purported paper leak was discovered on 3 May, as per Hindustan Times.
The annual exams are administered by the IB board across three time zones.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsAccording to the SCMP report, The Post discovered that the contents had been downloaded more than 45,000 times.
The report added that this is the first instance of a paper leak in the over 55-year history of the Switzerland-based board, as per The Times of India.
Although it has regulations against academic misconduct like plagiarism and ghostwriting, “time zone cheating” has not been covered before.
Also read: What Centre's new bill on exam paper leaks entails
Origin of leak not found
Although the board acknowledged the issue, it did not identify the leak’s country of origin.
An investigation into the internet leak of test paper questions and answers will be initiated by the managing authority of the ongoing IB. But a lawmaker from Hong Kong has demanded greater steps to guarantee student fairness, as per SCMP.
According to the IB, which released its findings on Sunday, there was “no evidence” that the practice was widespread and that only a small percentage of pupils had engaged in “time zone cheating.”
“We have identified the source of this activity and are taking appropriate steps to hold those responsible accountable,” the organisation said, as per the report.
“Where we have identified students, the IB will open a formal investigation for malpractice, and students may receive no marks for their examinations or no grade for the relevant subject.”
“To date, there is no evidence of widespread cheating and we are confident that this activity remains at the fringes of what is otherwise a standard exam session,” it said.
The Mumbai principals think that the material was leaked from Turkey, according to the TOI report.
The time zone difference meant that while students in Hong Kong, Singapore, Europe, and the Americas might have benefited, Indian students were less likely to benefit from the paper leak, the newspaper claimed.
Criticism
Over 3,000 people have joined an online petition asking the IB to either cancel the exam for this year or provide justice to the students who were not aware of the leaked information.
A student from Hong Kong who took two examinations whose answers were made public claimed he didn’t think the IB was treating the matter seriously enough.
He pointed out that several of the documents with answers had been downloaded or seen tens of thousands of times, refuting the claim that only a very small number of pupils were aware of the leaks.
He expressed concern that the extent of the leak for some of the more difficult examinations he took, like the Physics and Math exams, could increase the passing mark and consequently reduce his overall score.
“It would be nice if they said something to reassure the students who actually tried hard,” he said. “It makes me question how professional the IB is,” SCMP quoted him as saying.
Sandra Dellit, an Australian whose daughter is undertaking the exam, expressed her displeasure with the IB’s handling of the developing problem.
“I haven’t seen one comment where the IB has come out and apologised to the students who are now in this turmoil and stressed about their future, What are they going to do? The kids that have done the right thing are likely to get screwed,” she said, according to SCMP.
Given the IB’s “high credibility,” lawmaker Tang Fei, the vice-chairperson of the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers, expressed his disbelief upon learning of the scandal.
To maintain the tests “as fair as possible,” he argued, the IB should take steps to make it up to the students, such as cancelling the test results of the papers that were leaked.
About International Baccalaureate
Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the International Baccalaureate (IB) is a non-profit organisation governed by a Board of Governors representing cultural and geographical diversity, according to HT.
It was founded in 1968.
IB curriculum is divided into four programmes – the Primary years programme for children aged three to 12, the Middle years programme for students aged 11 to 16, the Diploma programme for students aged 16 to 19, and the Career-related programme for students aged 16 to 19.
The two-year IB diploma programme is a globally accepted qualification for university admission.
Nearly 180,000 students worldwide took it last year, as per SCMP report. Exams for the programme were taken by 2,275 students in Hong Kong last year, a modest increase from 2,213 in 2022.
India is home to 210 IB World schools, with greater concentrations in Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, New Delhi, and Bangalore, as per HT.
The IB test for the year 2024 is being held from 24 April to 17 May.
With inputs from agencies
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