Cheating in exams is a fairly common phenomenon in many countries around the world.
For example many students seating for their final high school examinations in Kenya have had their results cancelled because of cheating and were either forced to repeat another year in high school or find something else to do.
School teachers have also been mentioned as culprits, either stealing examination papers and teaching their students what to expect in their final exams and students also cheating by smuggling mobile phones into an exam room.
Now new pictures have emerged showing students and parents in India taking ‘exam cheating’ to a whole new level in Bihar State. Not that cheating in India is unheard of, its just as common as it is in other countries, but what has been cited is clearly something else.
The pictures published on the BBC news website, show many students smuggle textbooks and notes into the examination centres despite tight security.
Parents and friends were also photographed scaling the walls of test centres to pass on answers to students during the current secondary school examinations.
The examinations, held by the Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB), began on Tuesday and are scheduled to go on until 24 March. Officials say more than 1.4 million students are taking the tests.
Most of the incidents of cheating this year have been reported in several districts.
Local newspapers have shown photos of parents and relatives trying to help their children cheat even at considerable risk to their own lives.
Some photos even show policemen posted outside the centres accepting bribes to look the other way according to a BBC correspondent
Photojournalist Dipankar, who took the photos in Saharsa district, says when he went into the examination hall and began taking pictures, the students did not seem worried at all.
Despite the many reports that have appeared in the local newspapers, the authorities seem uninterested in taking any action against the students according to Dipankar.
You can vew more pictures here:India students caught ‘cheating’ in exams in Bihar
