14 DAY TRIAL // Exams can prove pretty rough, make no mistake about it, and there is only so much praying and actually studying can do to help the young generation make it through such excruciating experiences and live to tell the tale.
Parents in India are well aware of just how horrible exams can be, and unlike other mothers and fathers who simply let their kids deal with them as best they can, they are ready and willing to bend over backwards to make sure that their offspring get the best results.
They're even willing to play Spiderman and scale buildings
The photo below was taken in the town of Hajipur in the Indian state of Bihar. The building is a local testing center. The men and the women holding tight to its walls are all parents or relatives and friends of students sitting for an exam.
The reason these folks scaled the building's walls during the exam was not that they were desperate to wish the students good luck and reassure them that everything would turn out alright in the end. Au contraire, they did it to help the students cheat.
The students' parents, relatives and friends climbed the building hoping to figure out a way to slip their loved ones inside cheating sheets through the windows and help them get a good grade. Whether the students deserved getting good grades was of no importance.
Officials in India explain that, although trained staff is sent to keep an eye on students and their families during exams, the fact of the matter is that many of them are willing to turn a blind eye to cheating for the right financial compensation.
In some cases, teachers and authorities are bullied into letting students cheat. “If we try to stop unfair means at a center, friends and family members of the examinees gang up to intimidate us,” an educator named Saroj Sinha told the press in an interview.
Cheating is a serious issue in the Indian state of Bihar
Time tells us that, presently, Bihar is one of India's least educated states. In 2011, the literacy rate was one of 63%. Truth be told, this figure sounds somewhat better than the 47% reported in 2001. Then again, it's pretty obvious there is plenty of room for improvement.
Officials say that, despite their best efforts, they simply cannot keep all students sitting for an exam from cheating, especially if they are determined to do so and their friends and family have no trouble helping them get the information their need from anywhere except their own heads.
Family members help students cheat during Bihar Board exams in Hajipur, Bihar. pic.twitter.com/T40NcD1gU3
— ANI (@ANI_news) March 19, 2015