Cheating at university on the rise
Students sit exams for others, plagiarise texts

Thammasat University says increasing numbers of students are cheating their way to university degrees, with a sharp rise in exam cheating and thesis plagiarism. ''It is worrying that most students who cheated on exams think that cheating is normal. ''It never occurred to them that what they did is morally wrong,'' said law lecturer Somkiat Worapanyaanan.

According to the university's records, a total of 240 undergraduate and graduate students were caught cheating on exams during the 1997-2006 academic years, compared to 113 between 1987-1996 and 56 between 1976-1986. Disciplinary officer Waleeporn Tanthapanich said students with lacklustre grades were hiring other students to sit tests on their behalf.

''Such tolerance of cheating shows that university students today do not hold honesty in high regard,'' she told a seminar organised at the university's Tha Prachan campus yesterday by the Women and Youth Studies Programme.

Theses and research papers were copied blatantly with only the covers changed. In many cases, professional paper writers were hired to do the work. She said plagiarism was common even for simple study assignments. It extended to the area of professional training, such as denture fabrication by dentistry students.

The most common crime in dormitories and classrooms was robbery, with cellphones and laptop computers being the most sought-after items. Ms Waleeporn blamed the rising problems on lax disciplinary measures. Ms Waleeporn pointed out that only one student was caught cheating on exams in 1975 when the university imposed the harshest punishment for the offence _ expulsion. Today, the disciplinary measures are merely one-year class suspension and community services, and exam cheating is rising as a result, she said.

Mr Somkiat pointed to a widening gap between students and their advisers. It was the advisers' responsibility to give moral guidance to students in their charge, as well as prepare them for tests and assignments, he said. He also accused some teachers of helping students in the wrong way. Starting this year, university instructors found guilty of tampering with test results, leaking exam contents, or plagiarism are to be punished by dismissal, according to the Civil Service Commission. Surin Ronnakiat, a psychology lecturer at the liberal arts faculty, said there have been no attempts to give counselling to student offenders. First offenders should be given an opportunity to shape up so they won't repeat mistakes that would land them in serious trouble, he added.