Unfair means in competitive examinations: an analysis of the impact on candidates and the education system

AUTHOR – HARMAN
COLLEGE- RAJIV GANDHI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF LAW, PUNJAB

INTRODUCTION

Competitive exams are the core foundation of modern education. It lays the path for the youth of India to their respective fields and jobs. It provides many educational opportunities and helps build professional careers. These quality exams show the knowledge and skills of the most deserving candidates for the post. The possibilities of unfair conduct in these examinations are low. Still, in recent times, the spectrum of unfair means—cheating or colluding—has skyrocketed in various types of competitive exams, and that has resulted in emotional and mental pain for the candidates who were working hard to clear such examinations and now have lost a year because of the leaks and illegal conduct during exams.
This research is conducted to analyze the impact on candidates and the multi-faced impact on their preparational conduct and the education system of this esteemed country. Unfair methods have shattered the core of competitive examinations, resulting in the possible disqualification of deserving students, questioning the decency and fairness of the examination, not providing a level playing field for all, and most importantly, the loss of trust in the organization conducting the examinations.

UNFAIR CONDUCT IN NATIONAL EXAMINATIONS

The factor that leads to unfair conduct in this country is society. Society has set standards for measuring a person’s success by the marks he scores on the tests or the rank he has achieved in any competitive exam. This mindset of society has created false pressure on the students and the people appearing for such examinations. Society doesn’t care about the process a person or a student goes through during preparation. In addition, this fake pressure compels one to adopt shortcuts to the destination one has aimed for, which is to clear the examination. From a small scale, this issue has turned to a national scale for government post-entrance examinations, and it is destroying the system from the inside.

Addressing Challenges of Fair Conduct

Fair conduct of examinations is the basic structure and decent pattern of competitive examinations. The national testing agency, which is responsible for the nationwide conduct of examinations of various public jobs and entrance tests, has been lacking in terms of these basic requirements. In recent times, the overall procedure has seen a crack in its shell because India has seen several cases and an FIR about exam papers getting leaked since 2019. Apart from the leak of the question paper for the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET)-UG 2024, four other pan-India-level examinations were engulfed by paper leaks. They are the Indian Army’s Common Entrance Examination for recruiting soldiers in 2021; the Central Teachers’ Eligibility Test (CTET) 2023; NEET-UG 2021; and Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Mains 202. More than 65+ examinations have been compromised with illegal conduct and exam paper leaks, and this is a major concern in modern times and risks the lives of millions of students.
India’s youth population is set to reach 420 million in 2024, comprising 29% of the total population. The youth is the real party who suffers in such conditions where their valuable time is lost because of leaks and the cancellation of exams. If this continues, the integrity of the exam and the trust people had in the government organization would be lost.

National Eligibility cum Entrance Test UG

National Eligibility cum Entrance Test or NEET (UG) is one of the toughest medical entrance examinations conducted in India. National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET)is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) for admission to undergraduate (MBBS/BDS/Ayush Courses) every year. According to the Indian government, passing the NEET exam is a must for enrolling in medical courses both domestically and outside. The NEET, the only national undergraduate medical entrance test, is administered annually to candidates seeking admission to institutions in India that offer 542 medical, 313 dental, 914 AYUSH, 47 BVSc, and AH colleges.
On June 4, 2024, the National Testing Agency, which conducts NEET UG, released results without a proper declaration, and the results were shocking. The most shocking part of the result was that some students got 718 and 719 marks, which is impossible because every question contains 4 marks each and a negative mark for each wrong answer. So, the only two outcomes that are possible are either 720/720 or 716/720.

This generated a wave of questions towards the NTA, and in response, clarifications were made that 1563 candidates got grace marks because of the loss of time in some examination centers. Dozens of cases have been filed against the prestigious NTA, and in response to this, the Supreme Court upheld the center’s decision, which allowed the NTA to conduct the re-test on June 23 and cancel the scorecards of the 1,563 candidates who would opt to appear. For those who do not wish to appear, their original scorecards (without the grace marks) will be considered. Sixty-three cases of students using unfair means were reported in NEET-UG, out of whom 23 have been debarred for varying periods, National Testing Agency (NTA) officials said on June 12 but reiterated that there has been no paper leak and the sanctity of the medical entrance examination has not been compromised.
This situation has left a disheartening effect on the minds of students, and more than half of the students have abstained from re-attempting the exam because many allegations have been made of bribery, paper leaks, and cheating, but the actual decision of the court is yet to be made. This is a major concern to society and the education system of India, which is a hope for millions of students who are trying to get a good college or a good government post.

Other National Competitive exams that have been compromised

2014 – Combined Pre-Medical Test or CPMT canceled because the box of the papers was tempered and the seal was broken. The exam was held by King George’s Medical University.
Yet there was no proof came out but it was said It was an inside job of the officials that led to the cancellation of the examination.
2015- AIPMT or All India Pre-Medical and Pre-Dental Test 90 answer keys were leaked for 15 lakhs. The supreme court held that “Holding that the entire conduct of the AIPMT has been rendered “futile by a handful of elements seeking to reap undue financial gain by subjecting the process to their evil maneuvres”, the court said: “We have thus no hesitation to order that the All India Pre-Medical and Pre-Dental Test stands canceled.
2019- The online test for the posts of Junior Engineer (JE), Depot Material Superintendent (DMS), and Chemical & Metallurgical Assistant (CMA) was conducted on August 28. However, the question paper for the JE post was allegedly leaked and its screenshots were circulated on social media.
2020- NLAT or National Law Aptitude Test was conducted by NLSIU, Bangalore and reports have been found that the paper was leaked minutes after the commission of the test. The Bar and Bench got the leaked paper while the paper was underway. The esteemed National Law University released the statement that the integrity of the exam has not been compromised and the leaked questions were released by the students who logged in from their messenger and circulated the questions on social media.
2022- BPSC canceled its 67th combined (preliminary) competitive examination On May 8, 2022, following allegations of question paper leak. However, EOU during the investigation found that the BPSC TRE 3 paper was leaked before it went to the printing press.

LEGAL FRAMEWORK

The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024

According to section 3 of The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill 2024
The unfair practice in public examinations is conducted by individuals, groups, or any institution for their economic and financial interests. Unfair practices include leaking of exam papers or colluding to leak any exam paper or their answer keys, unauthorized possession of material that will be used for examination, proving solutions, or assisting any candidate during exam, tampering with answer sheets, altering assessments being unauthorized, violation of norms set by the Government, manipulating candidates ranking documents, breach of security, manipulating computer systems, changing seating arrangements without authority, threatening or restraining examination personnel, creating fraud websites and conduction fraudulent examinations or issuing fake documents for financial gains.

According to section 4 of The Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill – No person or group of persons or institutions shall collude or conspire to facilitate indulgence in any such unfair means.

According to section 9 of this bill- All offenses shall be cognizable, non-bailable, and non-compoundable.
The punishment under this bill can be of three-five years in prison and a fine of rupees 10 Lakhs.

CONCLUSION

The concern over unfair means in national public examinations has increased over the past few years, and it is a threat to India’s education system. The rise of cheating, leaks of examination papers, colluding, etc. has severely damaged the integrity of the examination. The emotional and mental impact on candidates has to be considered, and the amount of time they have lost due to these malpractices is considerable. For a significant change in this issue, society must evolve and consider the challenges one faces during the preparation of public examinations. The National Testing Agency and NEET UG case has led to a hard time for the students, and their response has failed to restore the integrity and trust of the people in the ability of the concerned agency to conduct a fair and decent examination. To tackle such issues, more laws addressing this issue should be enacted. The NTA should act strictly and firmly to reduce these unfair activities during public examinations.
In conclusion, the framework regarding unfair conduct in the examination is a grave threat to the education system. Comprehensive measures, free and fair conduct, a shift in the ideologies of society, and a level playing field are essential to restoring the trust and integrity of the examiners and the students. Without such change, the future of millions of students would be at stake, as would the credibility of the Indian education system.