Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures

To preface: this post has nothing to do with sex whatsoever. It does, however, have to do with other desperate measures.

On February 22, I began my first experience with giving tests in a classroom in Mozambique. Now this might not seem so exquisite to elicit a blog post, but testing in Mozambique is a whole different beast. There is actually quite little about tests here that resemble a test in the states. For the largest piece, there is a different standard about cheating. Some things that we would consider blatant cheating in the states are generally accepted here. And in general, the consequences are somewhat less harsh than Americans are used to.

I began my journey of exams with a review day for my students. To start the review, I gave my rules for the test. First rule: be punctual. I wanted them to have as much time as possible to complete the test, not to mention that it’s considerably less disruptive. One would think I didn’t need to say this… in actuality a vital rule to have. Rule number two: be silent during the test. No discussing with neighbors, no talking with students outside the classroom (again, plausibly obvious, but you can never be too thorough), and no talking with students across the classroom. And the final rule, the one rule to rule them all: no cheating. At the recitation of this rule, nearly every class I taught laughed at me. However, I persevered. I told them I was serious, and if I caught them cheating, there would be a severe punishment (well by their standards, but relatively lenient based on our standards). If I saw them looking at a test that wasn’t their own, I would mark their test, which would result in 2 points off per mark (an equivalent to 10% off every time). And if I caught them with a physical cábula (a cheatsheet), then I would take their test, and they would receive a zero on the test. Did I mention the test is worth roughly 20% of their grade? Receiving a zero makes it pretty much impossible for them to pass…

So one would think life would be okay after that spiel… but no. Study skills are noticeably absent here, so many students are willing to risk the possible zero, or the mark down, in order to ensure a correct answer.  I’ve never experienced anything so exhausting as four days of testing here. Students continued to frequently look at the tests of neighbors or at the tests of people across the room. And there were plenty of cheat sheets to be had. And these are not wandering eyes… straight up ogling more accurately describes the looking my students did. And at the end of a period, when every American student hands in his or her test, the kids here continue to write. I had to actively put the onus on them to turn it in. I told them that I was going to leave immediately, and if I didn’t have their test, they would receive a zero. Usually that elicited the appropriate response, but I did manage to leave one classroom with only two tests (out of approximately 60).

My anti-cheating weaponry must be developed considerably more than this initial phase…