Personal Bluetooth jamming eyed to prevent cheating

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KUWAIT CITY, May 22: In an effort to prevent cheating in the upcoming exams, which will start on Tuesday, May 23, for the end of the current academic year for the 11th and 12th graders, the Joint Higher Committee for Monitoring Examinations in the Ministry of Education is studying the application of individual jamming facility for any Bluetooth device detected by the examination committees, after the Ministry of Health rejected the use of mass jamming device due to its health effects on students, reports Al-Rai daily. According to an educational source, this approach is still a proposal being studied by the members of the committee, which includes representatives of some entities such as the Communications and Information Technology Regulatory Authority.

The committee has not yet decided on some of the previously proposed options, the most important of which is cutting off the Internet from the vicinity of secondary schools during the exam period. In addition, an educational report highlighted the nature of exams in secondary schools, explaining that an academic year has four calendar periods, which are:

1. The first and third academic terms for all grades shall be as follows:

■ Their timetables are unified at the ministry level and developed by the Coordination Department – Monitoring Examinations and Student Affairs.

■ Their subjects and the preparation of their question papers are unified at the level of the educational zone. The technical guides for each subject are committed to setting the exam according to what was accomplished during the academic year in each field.

2. The second and fourth academic terms for all grades shall be as follows:

■ Their timetables are unified at the ministry level and developed by the Coordination Department – Examination Monitoring and Student Affairs.

■ Their subjects and question papers are unified at the ministry level, where the general technical guides for each subject are committed to setting the exam according to what was accomplished during the two academic terms (the first and second for the second academic terms, and the third and fourth for the fourth academic terms). All practical exams will take place on the date determined by the decision organizing those calendar terms. The maximum grades for each academic field is determined by 100 marks.

The minimum final grade is distributed over the academic field in the four academic terms as follows:

■ The first period (30 marks): 10 classwork – 20 exam period.

■ The second period (70 marks): 10 classwork – 60 exam period.

■ The third period (30 marks): 10 classwork – 20 exam period.

■ The fourth period (70 marks): 10 classwork – 60 exam period.

The report elaborated that the grade of the academic field at the end of the year is calculated from the result of dividing the total scores of the four academic terms by 2.

The daily work score for each academic period is distributed by the specialized technical guidance by five grades for the short test and five grads for term’s participation, homework and behavior.

The report highlighted the written exams for the first and third terms, which are carried out through the following:

1. Each of the exams for the first and third term shall be held on the date specified by the organizing decision.

2. Examination timetables for the first and third terms are unified at the ministry level.

3. The specialized technical guide in the educational zone shall set exams for the first and third terms according to the mechanism of standardized examinations at the zonal level.

4. The learner shall be examined in the first and third terms only in the subjects of the academic fields that are taught in these two terms.

5. Postponed exams from the first, second and third terms will be canceled. The report clarified the mechanism for dealing with violations of the examination regulations. The learner’s score will be zero in the event of cheating or assistance in cheating. He will be denied the practical and written examination score. If it happened in an exam at the end of the second term for moving into another class only, then he must take the exam for the second round in that field, unless he failed in more than three subjects, including the field of which his exam was canceled.

The report revealed the procedures for dealing with the cheating student in the following manner:

1. The first, second and third study terms:

■ The learner is deprived of the exam score (practical, written, and continuous assessment grades) as he will get a score of zero in all fields of study during the term in which the cheating was committed.

■ The learner is referred to the School Disciplinary Committee to take the necessary action against him in accordance with the approved systems and regulations.

2. The fourth academic term:

■ The learner is deprived of the exam score (practical, written, and business degree), and a zero score is assigned to him in all academic fields

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