T

his year’s National Examinations (UN) for school students has just ended. For some, the test is just like any other examination that students must take throughout their studies.

Nevertheless, from a students’ point of view, this nationally standardized exam is often seen a defining moment in their life, an event by which the future of their education will be decided.

That is why participating students feel that they must pass the exam, sometimes at any cost. On the first day of the examination alone, according to the National Examinations Center, there were over 250 reports of problems and irregularities. Many concerned alleged leaking of exam questions as academic cheating.

News coverage revealed that students at a number of schools resorted to academic cheating supposedly to guarantee a pass-mark. Some of these acts were even captured by television cameras and broadcast nationally.

Despite the education minister’s claim that reports of academic cheating during the exam was lower this year than in previous years, concern must be given to how the existence of such misconduct will shape our future generations.

The government took very serious measures to secure this year’s National Examinations. The National Police was involved in ensuring the integrity and accountability of the entire process of the exam. A member of the House of Representatives even argued that the security measures amounted to preparations for a war. Nevertheless, keeping the National Examinations clean and accountable could be among the important steps in preventing another generation of fraudsters.

Many believe that fraud occurs primarily because of three factors: pressure or motivation; opportunity; and rationalization. In terms of rationalization, so far as studies in behavioral science are concerned, it is something that builds up over years of exposure to corrupt environments, including those of educational institutions.

Frequent academic cheating is believed by behavioral scientists to be among the early indicators of one’s future “career” as a fraudster. Evidence suggests that academic fraud in corrupt countries tends to be higher than that of less corrupt countries. This is because students see fraudulent acts as being commonplace, so gradually they will be accustomed to thinking that it is OK to engage in such acts simply because everyone else is doing it.

In the case of students who cheated during the National Examinations, for example, it is likely that they were already “infected”, at least at an early stage, by the fraud rationalization “virus”, due to certain factors within their environment such as a lack of severe sanctions for academic misconduct and a lack of monitoring.

This attitude will likely be carried out during their adult lives and will make them more prone to the temptation to commit fraud, especially in their professions.

Currently, there are a number of high-profile fraud cases in Indonesia that involve young professionals, some of whom are highly educated. This has raised a question about whether schools and universities fail in shaping our young generation. Also, there seems to be a regeneration of fraud offenders in Indonesia.

In Indonesia, many seem to focus more on how to severely punish offenders and less on how to cut off the supply of offenders. If this is the case, then it is going to take forever to be free from fraud since new, younger and probably smarter fraudsters will always come to replace the older ones.

Preventing fraudsters from regenerating requires the participation of all elements of society, including families and educational institutions. In fact, studies suggest that countries whose society believes combating corruption is a sole responsibility of law enforcement institutions will always have a hard time in solving such problems.

Schools and universities should ideally be a place for our youth to nurture their ability to discern right from wrong based on religious, moral and ethical values.

Just like academic competence, integrity and honesty should also be a quality expected from school and university graduates.

The writer is the director of the Center for Forensic Accounting Studies at the Accounting Program of the Islamic University of Indonesia.