Not just cheating, Madras University stares at an examination scam

Siddharth Prabhakar | TNN | Updated: Nov 27, 2017, 06:36 IST



CHENNAI: With 12 students found guilty of impersonation and several others suspected of indulging in malpractices during exams, University of Madras may have on its hands a large-scale, well-networked examination scam involving students, exam centres and invigilators.

The institution investigated examinations held for candidates of the Institute of Distance Education (IDE) in November and December 2016, debarred 12 students — who were found to have hired someone else to write the exams for them — from writing exams for three years. Close to 500 students who wrote exams at IDE centres in Mysuru, Mumbai and Hyderabad have been called for an inquiry along with the hall superintendents and invigilators who supervised the tests.

Experts say the scam is a manifestation of a practice in which universities allow study centres to proliferate outside their jurisdiction in violation of University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines. These centres are located too far for the university to effectively scrutinise their activities. Following the UGC order, Madras university shut down centres outside Tamil Nadu in May.



The anatomy of the scam as revealed by the inquiry is as follows: Students from Chennai and its neighbouring districts pursuing MBA, BBA, MA or MSc through distance mode chose to write their exams in centres outside TN. Facilitated by unscrupulous elements who had links with the study centres, either dummy candidates were allowed to take the exams or answer scripts were filled outside exam centres. In the second case, the answer sheets were bunched together with the others in the centre and then sent to the university for evaluation.

The enquiry panel probing the scam collected evidence to piece this together. It found handwriting of some candidates on answer sheets differed from subject to subject. In some cases, signature of the student in the exam attendance register was different from the one on the answer sheet. Evidence also pointed to collusion of officials at the examination centres. In some cases, the signature and name of the hall superintendent did not match with that on the answer sheet and attendance register. In others, the signature of the superintendent was missing from the answer sheets.

Latest CommentThese state of affairs must be given global publicity as well at All India level. The rot begins from the head. From vote buying by leaders to the very students who will be responsible for the future of the State.Malaikallan N

Centres outside TN can download question papers half-an-hour before the exam, but after the exam they have enough time to courier the answer scripts. "Exams are held on Sundays, a postal holiday. Centres take advantage and use the extra day to insert the fake answer sheets. Since a courier to Chennai from Mumbai or Hyderabad might take two days, the university can't question the delay," a source probing the scam said.

In a perplexing turn of events, three candidates who were questioned said they did not appear for the exam at all. They alleged that someone else had applied for the exam, paid the fee and wrote the papers in their name. It is suspected that they gave the statement to wriggle out of being debarred.