Recently, five people were held in Rajastan while trying to cheat in the Rajasthan Eligibility Examination for Teachers exam by use of 'bluetooth slippers'.
Exam cheating is not a new thing anywhere in the world, but here are 5 unusual ways students tried to cheat in exams - oftentimes failing spectacularly.
1. Bluetooth
Bluetooth is likely among the most common methods used by examinees to try to one-up their tests. The trick is simple, the cheater carries a bluetooth device equipped with a speaker (such as a modified slipper in the Rajasthan case), and a person on the other side of the connection reads out answers from the questions on the paper the examinee tells them.
2. Impersonation
You've seen people impersonate others almost flawlessly in movies - sometimes with people literally wearing a mask of the person they're impersonating - but the trick in exams is remarkably more mundane. A cheater (often with a sufficient closeness in appearance) takes the place of the examinee and answers the test for them in exchange for payment. Many times, however, they're undone by either the examiner on call, or oftentimes, their biometrics.
3. Literally climbing on to the side of the exam hall and reading the answers out
Desperation to score well in exams has taken many forms- from exchanging chits to small glances in exam halls, to subtly seeking outside help - but this is perhaps the most brazen way that cheating has been conducted. The most infamous incident would be in 2015, when friends and relatives of examinees in Hajipur, Bihar literally climbed to the side of the exam hall and gave the answers of the test paper to the examinees.
4. Apple Watch
Weird though it may be, students have been accused of cheating in exams for merely carrying an Apple Watch - or any smartwatch for that matter - in the exam hall. However, this method is prone to easy detection as a smartwatch is a rather obvious piece of accessory, and because it usually requires the use of a mobile phone to function effectively as a cheating device.
5. Paper leak
A classic among classics, paper leaks are commonly used as tools for cheating by unscrupulous entities who may or may not be examinees. The scale of the leaks can be as little as a few small copies sent around via WhatsApp, to full-blown leaks which result in exams getting cancelled altogether.
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