A number of Moldovan writers, who were contacted by IPN, consider that the authorities’ initiative to install supervision cameras to monitor the Baccalaureate exams is exaggerated. They said that before applying this practice, the Education Ministry should have attentively studied the experience of other states. The writers admitted yet that copying is a harmful practice that must be combated. Some of the writers said the students who do not intend to copy should not be bothered by the cameras.
Vladimir Besleaga believes that an experiment of the kind may be performed in Moldova, but not introduced by force. The teachers and students should be consulted. “When we took exams, the period was difficult and the conditions were severe. They didn’t even have to speak about copying as it was impossible to cheat,” said the writer.
Andrei Strimbeanu considers that the use of video cameras in the Baccalaureate exams is not opportune as all the candidates are considered guilty and not prepared from the very beginning. “If a student asks something a mate of his, this is not because he doesn’t know, but because he forgot it because of emotions. A more sensitive child may get blocked when in a hall with video cameras. Albert Einstein became a genius even if he didn’t have high grades in the math exam for example,” he stated.
Copying among the school students in Moldova is something ordinary and the parents and teachers are to blame for perpetuating this phenomenon, believes writer Nicolae Dabija. “The children should not be afraid of cameras as such a practice exists in many states,” he said, adding that when he was a student, they cheated in exams. “When I sat the admission exam at the university, the candidates sitting near me copied. I was surprised at their courage,” stated Nicolae Dabija.
Asked where coping comes from, the writer said the phenomenon started in the Soviet period, when they had to write in Russian at universities. Many persons didn’t know the meaning of many words and simply copied them from specially prepared papers. “I don’t think that somebody would like to be treated by a doctor who cheated in exams,” said Nicolae Dabija. He urged the students to memorize as many texts as possible so as to train memory.
