INTRODUCTION
Transparency is an essential component in building credibility in exams. In today’s time, it becomes necessary to maintain the trust of thousands of candidates in the education system. Recently, we have looked at issues like- unfair means used in the NEET UG exam, Cancellation of the UGC-NET exam, and Postponement of NEET PG results. There is huge unrest and anger among candidates for the injustice due to the failure to conduct exams fairly. Candidates who had worked hard all through a year or more than 2 years with dedication and perseverance to clear a single exam to get admission to decent universities or for better future job opportunities but what they got in return, undeserving students get promoted by cheating and corruption. Students have the potential to shape the future and are key to the prosperity of a nation, for which we need to ensure transparency in examinations.
WHY IS TRANSPARENCY REQUIRED?
The examination is beneficial in determining the academic progress and knowledge of students in a particular arena. Exams help candidates develop consistency, skill sets, time management, etc. thus, maintaining transparency in exams is the need of the hour. The use of unfair means will disrupt equity and hinder faith in prestigious exams. If all India-level exams are not transparent then candidates will lose hope that their hard work will ever pay off and, in the future, either they will opt for illegal ways to score high instead of doing an intense study or they won’t appear for the exams, and for the undeserving one’s, who lacked qualifications will come forward and will be a threat to the progress of the nation.
“According to an investigation by the Indian Express, there have been 41 instances of paper leaks in recruitment exams across 15 states in the last five years. The media report revealed that these leaks derailed the schedules of up to 1.4 crore applicants trying for just about 1.04 lakh posts.”[1]
THE PUBLIC EXAMINATIONS (PREVENTION OF UNFAIR MEANS) ACT, 2024
Aim: To prevent unfair means and bring greater transparency, fairness, and credibility in the public examinations system.[2]
Applicability: ANY EXAMINATION CONDUCTED BY—
- Union Public Service Commission.
- Staff Selection Commission.
- Railway Recruitment Boards.
- Institute of Banking Personnel Selection.
- Ministries or Departments of the Central Government and their attached and
subordinate offices for recruiting staff.
- National Testing Agency.
- Such other authority as may be notified by the Central Government.[3]
Coverage: Under sec 3 unfair means are defined: –
- Leakage of question paper or answer key.
- Unauthorize access to question papers or OMR sheets.
- Unauthorize persons providing solutions during exams.
- Assisting candidates directly or indirectly.
- Tampering with documents used for shortlisting or ranking of candidates.
- Tampering with computer systems or networks.
- Creating fake websites.
- Conducting fake exams and issuing fake admit cards or offer letters to cheats or for monetary gains for illegal acts.[4]
Punishments: ‘Sec 9 says that offences should be cognizable, non-bailable, and non-compoundable are covered in this act.
- In cognizable offences– The police must investigate without obtaining prior permission from the magistrate.
- A non-compoundable offence– if a case is registered then it can’t be withdrawn even if the complainant and the accused came to a compromise.
- Penalties for an individual who is found guilty– Imprisonment of up to 3 to 5 years and a fine of up to 10 lakhs.
- Penalties for service providers– fine up to 1 crore and debarred for 4 years from conducting exams.
- Person involved in organized paper leaks– Imprisonment up to 10 years and fine more than 1 crore.
- Institutions involved in organized paper leaks– forfeiture of property.
- Director, senior management, or person in charge of service provider– Imprisonment of 3 to 10 years and fine up to 1 crore.
In case of default of payment additional punishment can be imposed as per Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, provisions of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, will be applicable until BNS comes into force.’[5]
FALLACIES IN THE PUBLIC EXAMINATIONS (PREVENTION OF UNFAIR MEANS) ACT, 2024
- In Implementation:
To ensure effective implementation of the act then there is a need for proper execution at the ground level.
- Keeping Confidentiality:
To prevent leaks of question papers or answer keys before exams, confidentiality should be maintained by the administrators and printing staff.
- Rigorous Competition level:
Population is growing, demand for prestigious colleges and government jobs is rising, number of candidates appearing for exams every year is rising, competition among candidates is ever increasing which leads to distress among them and their parents as well which causes them to go for an extra mile and adopt unfair means to get the desired scores amounts to cheating.
- Unemployment:
Lack of employment and poverty force people to commit crimes like- taking large sums of money in return they provide aid in cheating by leaking papers or impersonating in an exam centre at someone else’s place.
- Lack of Awareness:
Spreading awareness among students, parents, and other people is necessary, to make them aware of the impact of cheating or using any other unfair means to clear exams.
- Lack of strict Monitoring:
Strict monitoring is another important aspect to ensure proper implementation of the act, and guidelines are strictly followed.[6]
COMPARISON OF PUBLIC EXAMINATIONS (PREVENTION OF UNFAIR MEANS) ACT, 2024 WITH ELECTIONS
There is an established notion that conducting elections and exams is related. A question arises in computer-based tests if computers can be hacked, EVMS can be hacked too. If the government fails to conduct the One Nation One Exam transparently, then can it conduct the One Nation One Elections fairly? Both elections and examinations are necessary.[7]
CONCLUSION
In my opinion, Bright students will paint a bright future; to make them fly we need to provide them with wings that should not be broken so, they can cover the sky widely. This means if a nationwide exam is being conducted, it should not breach its integrity and transparency should be ensured. Students should get equal opportunities to compete in exams. But with the help of cheating some students get an upper edge in achieving good scores in the examination which amounts to injustice to those students who studied rigorously for that particular exam and already took many drops. Those students might go into depression and out of them few attempt suicide. All their efforts go in vain. To prevent this chaos new law has come into force, that is the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024. However, the applicability of this act is limited to certain agencies for conducting examinations. For state-level exams, states formulate laws and the act will serve as a model draft.
Author(s) Name: Garima Goyal (School of Law, Devi Ahiliya Vishwavidyalaya, Indore)
References:
[1]Md Zakariya Khan, ‘Public Examination Bill 2024: Why creation of transparency during exams is much more than a bill?’ Financial Express (13 February 2024) <https://www.financialexpress.com/jobs-career/education-public-examination-bill-2024-why-creation-of-transparency-during-exams-is-much-more-than-a-billnbsp-3392215/#:~:text=Further%2C%20experts%20suggested%20that%20more,securely%2C%20and%20follow%20instructions%20meticulously.> accessed 26 June 2024
[2] THE PUBLIC EXAMINATIONS (PREVENTION OF UNFAIR MEANS) BILL, 2024
Public Examinations Prevention of Unfair Means Bill, 2024| Indepth | Drishti IAS English, (6 February 2024) <https://youtu.be/ofQGnL-ZbA4?si=lMYfj0AsW28hpVT0 > accessed 26 June 2024
[3] Ibid
[4] Ibid
Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024, Drishti IAS (7 February 2024) <https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/public-examinations-prevention-of-unfair-means-bill-2024> accessed 26 June 2024
[5] Ibid
Public Examinations Bill, Drishti IAS (6 February 2024) <https://www.drishtijudiciary.com/editorial/public-examinations-bill> accessed 26 June 2024
[6] Khan (n1)
[7] Parliament proceedings | Lok Sabha passes anti-cheating Bill to tackle menace of malpractices, The Hindu (6 February 2024) <https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/lok-sabha-passes-bill-to-check-use-of-unfair-means-in-govt-recruitment-exams/article67817896.ece> accessed 26 June 2024
