Letting the Cheaters Always Win: The Scantiness of Public Policy to Curb Cheating in the Academic Settings

The Scantiness of Public Policy to Curb Cheating in the Academic Settings

Abstract

Although academic dishonesty in Pakistan's institutions of higher learning evinces pervasiveness but quantitative research on efficacy of its control mechanism is nominal. This study empirically examines the mechanism adopted for controlling academic dishonesty in Pakistan. The study makes use of 'panel data' compiled by a large public sector University in Pakistan from 2012 to 2017. Classifying the policy variables in four sub-categories and using rigorous regression analysis, the attained results indicate that no variable, representing probability of detecting acts of academic dishonesty, influences cheating during examinations. The variables representing severity/certainty of sanctions are, however, negatively associated with cheating. The study further deliberates on weaknesses of the conventional policies and recommends some guidelines to make them more useful for curbing academic dishonesty in Pakistan.