Karnataka College Makes Students Wear Cartons To Check Cheating In Exams 

Bengaluru: In an unusual measure to cope with the menace of cheating in exams, about 50 students of a pre-university college in Karnataka were made to wear cartons while writing the examination on Wednesday. The incident came to light when a video clip went viral on social media on Friday.

According to a news agency, the students of the co-educated Bhagat Pre-University College in Haveri, about 330 km from Bengaluru, were writing the exams wearing cartons which was done ostensibly to prevent them from copying. They were writing papers in economics and chemistry subjects as part of the mid-term exams, conducted in their classroom.

Deputy Director of Public Instruction has sent a notice to the college seeking an explanation.

"A notice has been issued to Bhagat Pre-University College seeking explanation for forcing its students wear cardboard boxes (cartons) while writing exams to prevent them from copying," a Haveri district Deputy Director of Public Instruction (DDPI) official was quoted saying to a news agency.

"Whatever be the purpose, they (students) cannot be made to wear cartons for writing exams. There is no rule or advice from us," said the official.

Reports suggest that the front side of the cartons were, however, were cut for the students to breathe and see but not peep left or right to see the answer sheets of the other students seated on the same bench.

Reacting to the incident, state Education Minister S. Suresh Kumar said that such an attempt was not acceptable. "Nobody has any right to treat anybody more so students like animals. This perversion will be dealt with aptly," tweeted Kumar.

Defending the preventive action, college head M.B. Satish told media that a college in Bihar had used a similar method to check rampant copying during exams and was widely appreciated on the social media.

"We tried to see how it works as a trial and told the students in advance that boxes would be given to each of them to wear before writing the exam," he was quoted saying.

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