Alarm raised over cheating in Kenya varsities

Institute chairman Kevit Desai said the vice had negative implications in the job market as graduates were not competent enough to meet demands of the industries. Photo/FILE

Lecturers in universities use ideas generated by their students to write dissertations and other academic papers, a national conference on plagiarism (copying another person’s academic work) was told on Thursday.

On the other hand, their students cheat in both written exams and projects or have assignments done on their behalf. They also allow colleagues to copy their answers during exams.

The forum on “Academic Integrity and Excellence” raised the alarm on the escalating levels of academic cheating and plagiarism in both universities and schools in the country.

And this lack of integrity in academics gets worse at university level, officials from the Commission for Higher Education and Kenya National Examinations Council said.

CHE head of accreditation Rispa Odongo said that some universities even presented plagiarised curriculum programmes for approval by the agency.

“This is why we are now emphasising on having internal quality assurance mechanisms in all universities,” Prof Odongo said.

Citing a global report, she noted that 74 per cent of university students cheated in exams while 52 per cent presented other scholars’ ideas as their own in projects and term papers.

This rot in education emanates from a lack of original work among students, lecturers and even institutions.

“The Internet has also exacerbated plagiarism. Students simply cut and paste text for their assignments and research,” she added.

Knec head of corporate affairs Ken Ramani argued that academic dishonesty would only be curbed if cheating in primary and secondary schools was eliminated.

The conference that ends today seeks to promote academic integrity and excellence. It was organised by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers.

Institute chairman Kevit Desai said the vice had negative implications in the job market as graduates were not competent enough to meet demands of the industries.