Case 9.2: "Cooperation" at the exam centre
- Hypothetical case
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Syllabus point
- 1: ethics, human values, role of education and society
- Values and laws tested
- Honesty, the purpose of education, purity of means, courage; Conduct Rule 3(1); Nolan's "honesty"
Illustrative example"Cooperation" at the exam centre
A government senior secondary school in a Rajasthan village has been made a board-exam centre, and Devendra is its centre superintendent. Last year the school's pass rate was 52 per cent. The village sarpanch and a few parents come to see him. They say, "It is a matter of the village's honour. The children worked in fields and as labourers all year. Do a little cooperation; tea and snacks are on us." Two teachers also whisper, "It happens at every centre. If we do not, only our children will fall behind." Outside, some youths are getting ready to pass slips. Devendra knows that many of the children are truly hard-working but have been weak in studies. Devendra has served eleven years without a single complaint against him. The sarpanch gently reminds him that he lives in this same block and will keep meeting these families long after the exam.
- Stakeholders
- Students (hard-working and weak alike), parents, the sarpanch, the two teachers, Devendra, the Board and its credibility, candidates at other centres.
- Issue
- honesty and fairness of the exam against community expectation, colleagues' pressure and sympathy for the children.
- Options
- A. Look the other way (everyone is pleased; but the children learn the wrong lesson and the exam is unfair). B. Open with harsh action and complaints (the rule is defended; but the village turns away and the teachers are alienated). C. Run the centre strictly and fairly, speak openly with parents and the sarpanch, instruct the teachers, report the slip-passers to the police, and present a plan to lift results.
- Best
- C. Conduct Rule 3(1) (absolute integrity); Kant's test (could I will this rule for everyone?); Gandhi on means and ends (Hind Swaraj, ch. 16).
Lesson
Action: Short term: a meeting with the sarpanch and parents, written instructions to the teachers, room-by-room checks. Long term: extra classes next session, early identification of weak students, an attendance plan for the farming and labour season.
Practice Questions
Practice questionabout 100 words
(10 marks, 100 words) What should Devendra do? Solve with the five steps.
Model answer
Students, parents, the sarpanch, teachers, the Board and other candidates are stakeholders. The issue is the honesty of the exam against community expectation and sympathy for the children. I have three options: look away, confront harshly, or run the exam fairly while talking openly and offering a recovery plan. The first teaches the children a wrong lesson; the second alienates the village. I choose the third, because Conduct Rule 3(1) demands absolute integrity and impure means hollow out any result. Now I would meet the sarpanch and parents, instruct teachers in writing and stop the slips. Long term I would run extra classes.
Practice questionabout 50 words
(5 marks, 50 words) Why is the argument "everyone is doing it" morally weak?
Model answer
Kant: if everyone copied, the exam would lose its meaning; another person's wrong does not make mine right.
Practice questionabout 50 words
(5 marks, 50 words) Suggest honest ways to improve the village's results.
Model answer
More teaching hours, remedial classes for weak students, practice with past papers, flexible arrangements in the farming season.