“Harvard probes biggest cheating scandal,” was the headline of a brief news report in the September 01, 2012, issue of the Times of India, Mumbai edition informed that the university is investigating 125 undergraduates for cheating in a final examination last year, the largest academic scandal in the institution’s history, the report read. The allegations range from academic dishonesty, inappropriate collaboration to outright plagiarism.  

We may hear more about the investigation and the reports will reveal further details, and fix the people responsible. The university will also bring in necessary reforms. However, can we prevent recurrence of such episodes? How often do we attempt a comprehensively preventive approach? To what extent is it possible to ascertain the truth of such matters?

Headlines across newspapers and magazines inform us of the many incidences of violence, war, thefts, social unrest and other socially unacceptable acts. With the advent of quick dissemination, we see the impact of such happenings across the world in no time. A lesser university may take an occurrence of cheating, in their examinations, easy because even Harvard is not free from it. This possibility is worrying to everyone, including Harvard University.    

Since I read about the scandal questions of many kinds have crossed my mind. What would have been the response of any of the ancient Greek, Indian or Chinese wise men like Socrates, Lao Tzu or Buddha to a challenge like this? Would they look at the challenge as a problem, which needs a solution, and hence quickly constitute a committee for finding out and dealing with it? Would they not review the entire matter attempting to understand the mind behind such occurrences?  

I think we, at least the educators, also need to review our ambience and the paradigm in which we live and function. We can follow it up by identifying lapses in the system, processes or procedures. However, a more pertinent approach may be to search why unethical practices creep into our minds at all.