Dear Editor,

There is a pervasive proclivity to badger our students to perform above and beyond their capabilities at all educational levels, and this can inadvertently present the tempting opportunity to cheat, and while I don’t condone cheating, students are, in fact, not prepared enough on the significance of academic integrity and its long-standing consequences.

Academic dishonesty, as cited by Northern Illinois University website, is the action of committing dishonest acts in research, learning, and teaching and is inclusive of the entire academic environment. I firmly believe educators and administrators have dropped the ball on teaching our students the ethical and moral ramifications of academic dishonesty, and this must be fervently addressed before it chronically stymies their moral acuity.

Students are equally responsible for academic integrity, as some find nefarious ways to take the easy road and win extrinsic incentives and accolades away from their hard-working colleagues. Lost opportunities and reputations are also on the line and can be life-changing or life-threatening.

The Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) has recently released reports on a growing incidence in cheating in several subjects, and surprisingly, students’ accomplices are administrators of educational institutions. Have we fully deciphered and disclosed the root cause of this growing issue? Or shall we continuously turn a blind eye to gain clout from our students’ academic performance through cheating?

As an educator, it is sad how poorly our students have performed in citing sources and properly using reference styles such as the American Psychological Association (APA) and the Modern Language Association (MLA), among others. I find this weakness common among first-year university students and their excuses often stem from not being taught correctly, or they find it to be too much work and hope that they won’t get caught when it’s not done properly.

In some countries, such as Australia, academic dishonesty can result in the offending individual serving prison time and/or being charged hefty fines. Plagiarism, especially in the Caribbean region, regrettably lacks the fear factor that would make students think twice.

Academic integrity shouldn’t be seen simply as a normative construct or requisite in the academic circle but more so as a means of protecting one’s reputation, honouring someone’s tireless effort in quality research, and simply giving due respect to fellow men. Academic integrity should be taught as early as grade seven and continuously built on to reduce the incidence of plagiarism in the educational institutions.

Let’s quickly normalise and concretise academic integrity throughout our education system.

Dujean Edwards

dujeanedwards@gmail.com