Dubai, UAE: The Ministry of Education uncovered the identity of students involved in a cheating incident that took place last week in Dubai.
The Grade 12 math exam had been taking place when students used the social media messenger application, WhatsApp, to forward images of the test paper to each other on a group chat.
More than 5,500 members were found to be on the chat, especially mothers of students and students from all over the UAE.
Time stamps on the image indicate the picture was clicked five minutes after distributing the exam paper, at 12:05pm, which confirms the cheating did indeed take place.
This was despite mobile phones being prohibited in the examination hall as well as proctors overseeing the students.
An anonymous source at the ministry confirmed that preliminary investigations revealed several students were involved in the incident.
They will be punished according to the code of conduct for students. They will be banned from all their third term examinations and receive a zero in all grades.
The examination proctors will also be referred to the ministry and interrogated for negligence. They may face legal charges as well as being fired for the offence.
The ministry had also issued a general warning on its social media handle on Instagram after the incident regarding the distribution and sharing of images related to exam papers.
“Anyone found in violation of the ban and sharing images or information regarding the examinations will be prosecuted for their actions.”
© Khaleej Times
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