University may order fingerprinting in exams
University administrators are considering using fingerprint recognition as a means of deterring students from cheating in exams. The proposal comes in response to the recent arrest of two students for attempted fraud in an Economics exam.
The idea was first suggested at a meeting of the Standing Committee on Assessment and proposed as a more rigorous alternative to the current system of identity cards used in University exams. The idea originated when a number of committee members visited local schools where the Digital Recognition fingerprinting system was being used.
Thumbprint scanners were used to let children borrow and return books without them having to use cards or money. YUSU Academic and Welfare Officer Grace Fletcher-Hall, who sits as a student representative on the committee said: “It’s the only idea at the moment, and both I and the GSA representative at the meeting raised the point that the initial data collection might well prove unpopular with students. It is likely to be quite expensive.”
A spokesperson for Student Administrative Services said: “These ideas are not necessarily where we’re going we’re just looking at a whole range of technologies to address the problem. We don’t want the students to think that those students were caught and that was just a fluke.”
Two students, Qiu Shi Zhang, 23, and Elnar Askerov, 22, were arrested on May 11 during an Economics exam for separate but similiar attempts to defraud the University by having someone else sit their exams. Both students were expelled for their actions. Askerov is due to appear in court on November 12 charged with fraud.
