In recent days, Moroccan security has arrested a number of people suspected of being involved in cases related to the possession and promotion of advanced electronic equipment and equipment used to cheat during exams.
The Minister of National Education, Primary Education and Sports, Chakib Benmoussa, pledged to work to confront and surround fraud in all its forms, referring to the dissemination of awareness campaigns, coordination with the services of safety and the mobilization of the parents of pupils to deal with the phenomenon. .
The number of candidates to pass the high school exams scheduled for June 6 is 426,000 students, an increase of 18% compared to the previous year.
Dealing with the Fraud Phenomenon
There are pages on social networks that promote and sell devices that are used to cheat on exams, the most famous of which is the “VIP Pro” device, which is a small wireless headset that connects to a smartphone and allows you to communicate with someone outside the examination room.
Noureddine Al-Akouri, president of the Federation of Parents and Guardians of Students in Morocco, points out that the phenomenon of cheating fundamentally violates the principle of equal opportunities between male and female students who pass exams.
In a statement to ‘Sky News Arabia’, Al-Akouri highlighted the role of families in combating the phenomenon of cheating, urging their children to abide by the rules of conducting exams and not to use any means of cheating .
He explained that the Parents’ Federation is working to organize awareness campaigns for students in educational establishments to alert them to the seriousness of this phenomenon, in addition to sensitizing families on their role in helping to contain cases of fraud.
In addition to the measures taken by the ministry to deal with this phenomenon, Al-Akouri stressed the need to adopt advanced technologies to detect modern means used in cheating, in addition to working to jam the communication network in the examination space to prevent the use of mobile phones to communicate with people outside the room.
Build high school credibility
Morocco adopts strict measures against those involved in cases of fraud, and special commissions equipped with equipment to detect electronic media and mobile phones are authorized in examination centers.
Preventive security inspections and campaigns resulted last year in the arrest of 573 people accused of cheating on exams and seizing a bunch of used electronic equipment.
According to Kamal Ahoud, a teacher in secondary education and member of the National University of Education staff, the process of cheating in exams is complex and can be caught before, during or during the stage of marking exam papers. examination in the event that the answers between the candidates match.
In a statement to Sky News Arabia, Ahoud said tackling the phenomenon of cheating remains difficult, despite efforts made by the Ministry of Education in coordination with various parties in the process.
The member of the National University of Education staff called for the need to educate those who are about to pass the exams by invoking the values ​​of honest competition and autonomy, in addition to warning of the danger of such behavior that would harm the credibility of the Moroccan baccalaureate.
He pointed out that cases of fraud are handled in accordance with the law on the reprimand of fraud, which came into force in 2016, and provides for a set of disciplinary sanctions to combat the phenomenon.
Penalties in Moroccan law
Morocco’s fraud deterrence law punishes anyone found guilty of fraud with a prison term of six months to five years plus a fine, or one of these two penalties.
The law also provides for the granting of a zero in the subject in which the practice of cheating has been detected and the cancellation of points for all the subjects of the course concerned, and the sanction can go as far as exclusion from passing the exam for two consecutive academic years.
Among the cases of fraud to which these sanctions apply are the exchange of written or oral information between candidates as well as the possession and use of unauthorized electronic means, documents or manuscripts inside the training centers. review.
In addition, anyone who proves his involvement in fraud cases on the basis of evidence, which is checked by the correctors during the correction and evaluation process, will be punished.
The chapters of this law apply to anyone who tries to provide falsified documents and use them to participate in the exam and impersonate a male or female candidate to pass it, as well as to leak the exams.
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