3 days ago
Why Ethics in Education Must Evolve Beyond Exam Conduct
Co-authored by- Mr. Zuno George Verghese, Assistant Professor, School of Legal Studies and Governance. Pursuing Ph.D., Tilburg Law School, Tilburg University, Netherlands. in Regulatory Governance from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai and Dr. Vikas N. Prabhu, Assistant Professor, School of Business Studies. Former Project Manager, Infosys Ltd. Ph.D., IIM Bangalore, M.A. in Philosophy, Christ University, Bangalore.
Ethics and education are two faces of the same coin. Socrates, the ancient Greek philosopher, believed that a person who knows what is right, will unfailingly do what is right. Therefore, as Socrates would see it, ignorance is the reason why human beings indulge in unethical activities or conduct. In that sense, ethics and education go hand-in-hand. However, while education becomes the bedrock for ethical behaviour of individuals in society, the flip question has long begged consideration and has, unfortunately, received scant attention. Has the process of education – that importantly involves learning and assessing – been ethically evaluated in a comprehensive manner?
While the National Education Policy 2020 has served to significantly reform the education system by focusing on foundational literacy, emphasizing teacher training and development, promoting a holistic and flexible curriculum structure for the students, and integrating better with vocational training, there is a need to look beyond the system towards the process where one looks at how the main constituents – the administrators, teachers, and students – engage with the system and realize the best possible outcomes. An ethical evaluation of the process of education would surface those loop holes that are subverting any improvement in effectiveness that reforming the system could deliver.
However, while the overlooked interaction between system and process is one root cause of suboptimal educational outcomes, another aspect plagues at the very heart of ethical analysis. Often, discussions of ethics in education have taken a very narrow perspective. They have primarily been concerned with exam conduct – involving issues such as preventing cheating or academic dishonesty during (written) exams, and ways to detect plagiarism (and, now, AI-generated content) in student (assignment) submissions. News of leaked examination papers and novel modes of examination misconduct by students hits news headlines year after year, reinforcing the (narrow) ethical narrative of examination conduct. Both the nodal bodies University Grants Commission and All India Council for Technical Education have undertaken initiatives to reform their evaluation systems a few years back (around 2018-19), based on the belief that evaluation is closely linked to learning outcomes, and is the best indicator of the level of learner accomplishment.
But ethics does not predominate ends over the means. There is a fundamental (ethical) flaw in the above (evaluation-focused) approach which emphasizes the ends of education (i.e., learning outcomes) over the means (i.e., the process of learning). Though educational institutes have begun emphasizing continuous learning journeys (through formative and summative assessments), it still ends up as a mere restructuring effort that instead of reducing emphasis on evaluations, increases it. Learners, who were hitherto bogged down by exam pressures towards the end of their terms would now, perhaps, be troubled through the entire term. The alarming rate at which student suicides are occurring in institutions across the country (notably, in the so-called premier institutes) renders the need to question the ethicality of the process of education not just important but also extremely urgent.
Therefore, the question that we deem necessary to ask is whether the process of education that is prevalent in our country today can stand its (ethical) ground when it comes to aspects such as inclusivity, fairness, and overall student wellbeing – the factors we believe are pivotal to enhance learning outcomes.
The National Achievement Survey (NAS) conducted in 2021 by the Ministry of Education, Government of India, found that levels of student learning had dipped significantly compared to their own 2017 survey. While research suggests that the dip observed in NAS 2021 was owing to the COVID-19 disruption, the disengagement experienced by learners in the post-pandemic-world is a strong indication that ethics in education must evolve beyond exam conduct. We, thus, posit that three categories of ethical questions need to be asked to ensure a comprehensive ethical evaluation of education. (See Exhibit 1 for the three categories of ethical questions)
Exhibit 1
Broad-based research in education has shown that enhancing the process of learning will improve learning outcomes. For instance, a study by the University of Michigan (see link:
underscored the importance of engagement, communication, and diversity in enhancing learning outcomes. Importantly, the study found that when students are encouraged to coordinate with a diverse bunch of peers their levels of 'active learning' are greatly enhanced. On another front, the increased use of technology in education also needs to be viewed with caution, and carefully implemented. For instance, Sweden has been gradually enacting regulations to restrict screen-time (and mobile phone usage) in schools so as to prevent learner addiction and prioritize their mental health. (See Exhibit 2 for our own experience in this matter while teaching a subject at Vidyashilp University)
One of the cases that assumes importance in today's context is towards enabling students to be familiar with and skilled at utilizing AI-tools. A careful implementation of usage of AI-tools by the students has the potential to facilitate the learning of the students at their own pace and intensity, of introducing diversity in the forms of learning, and to engage with their peers on adopting best practices on 'active learning'. Universities should therefore invest in and maintain adequate computing infrastructure to ensure fairness in overcoming disparity in access that specific students might encounter owing to their economic status, gender or background. Such steps would also help with improving the overall well-being of students in equipping them to counter the muddling effect of finding themselves in an 'AI-cho chamber' where their peers are using AI tools, and social media abounds with enthusiastic 'influencers' extolling the benefits of such tools.
Exhibit 2
Thus, we deem that a comprehensive shift in ethical evaluation of education system in India is largely due. Focusing merely on the ethics of exam conduct prioritizes ends over means and turns the teacher-student relationship into a cat and mouse game. By taking ethics beyond exam conduct, the education system can develop into an environment where students can shape their future and grow into capable, sensitive, and ethically grounded persons.
