Final exams in schools started a while ago, but students at schools have faced many problems in studying subjects before attempting the exams, which has led them to cheat unwillingly by using facilitating tools. Bushra Al-Qurashi, a seventeen year old said that she supports cheating in some situations during the exam. For instance, she thinks cheating is justified if a student forgets some words, but has prepared before the exam and knows that he or she will not cheat on everything. Al- Qurashi informed Saudi gazette about the different techniques used in cheating at quizzes and final exams during the term. “The oldest way to cheat is writing on the hand, and on small pieces of papers to put inside their hair or their uniforms,” said Al-Qurashi. She indicated that there are many reasons that make students cheat during the exam. “I think the teacher has an important role to make the students feel relaxed and have the confidence to answer in exams without cheating,” said Al-Qurashi. She added that there are some teachers who give a lot of information, which makes students feel unsatisfied in exams and leads them to cheat unconsciously. “Some teachers schedule exams two days after covering the curriculum, and do not pay heed to the protests of students who claim that it is difficult to study the subject in such a short period of time. This makes a student consider cheating a helpful solution if teachers don't care about their needs,” commented Al-Qurashi. Another form of cheating between students during the exam is where there are some secret movements that help students get the correct answer from their classmate by following certain directions. “If you need the first question, you have to cough. If you need the second one, you have to rub your hair, and if you need the third one, you have to hit the table twice in order to get the correct answer,” Al- Qurashi said. Loolowah Al-Ghamdi, a social consultant for a governmental school says that a good teacher has an important role in teaching her subject through the use of educational aids and familiarity with the internet to enable students to learn easily. “We are living in the age of technology and it is very important for teachers and students to learn to use the Internet and be able to search web sites on how to facilitate their subjects”, said Al-Ghamdi. According to those researching this issue, ‘cheat tests' provide high quality university - based IT exams for practising question and answer as well as supplying complete coverage of IT exams - including the CCIE (Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert) and CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) certifications. Just one click of the internet opens a world of possibilities and temptations - that are both devious and ingenious - with web sites devoted to the best cheating practices. Momen Abo Shawareb, a Saudi engineering student at King Abdul Aziz University said that cheating by students has become a commercial venture, as students can study the test on web sites where entrance is granted after payment. He added that the cost to participate within these websites is between SR 600 and SR 1,200, and they reportedly supply the same questions that are to appear in the IT exam. “To study these questions with its answers from the websites isn't considered cheating during the exam because you have studied the questions which you bought from the internet and that will give you confidance to pass the IT exam successfully,” opined Abo Shawareb. Abo Shawareb supports the idea that fragile relationships between friends and students and their parents is considered the most important factor, which pushes the student to cheat until it becomes a habit. “All the ways of cheating don't give any definition to the student in the end. He has to prepare for the exam instead of wasting his time, and shouldn't let any friend encourage him to cheat,” commented Abo Shawareb. “Students' parents have an important role also, on how to prevent their kids from cheating by encouraging them to understand the subject and not to pressure them to pass the exam,” Abo-Shawareb commented. Jassar Shurrab - an eighteen year old who prefers to cheat by asking the teacher unnecessary questions to keep him busy - does so in order to help his classmate cheat from his neighbor's sheet, adding that many of his peers would remain upset with him for up to a year if he wouldn't help them cheat in exams. Writing answers before the exam, printing it and cutting the paper into small pieces is considered the most successful and modern way to cheat for many female and male students, according to him. “My friends found this new way of printing their information in a paper. These small pieces we can put in the pen, package or inside the white cap (that male students wear) which makes it easy to cheat,” said Shurrab. Mona Al-Hakami, a social consultant at private school highlighted the danger of cheating in schools, adding that it was ultimately not a long term solution. “Students must depend on themselves even if their teacher doesn't teach them well. I always tell them...that if someone tries to cheat I will never forgive her. This affects the student and she refrains from cheating without a direct warning,” said Al-Hakami. All male and female schools in the Kingdom are given the following official rules to be applied when teachers discover any students cheating. “We give the first alert for the student if he tries to cheat, but after the third alert we will stop the exam for the cheater as a punishment for him. I think that the right teacher with the right environment and family will create a good student that will benefit society without cheating,” said Mohammad Abo Laban, the Director for Anjal Al Aqiq School.
