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Countering plagiarism
July, 23: ACADEMIC plagiarism is
on the rise in Pakistan. It is rampant not only among students but also teachers
as exemplified by the recent case of five faculty members at Punjab University
who escaped severe penalties on account of the absence of legislation in this
regard. Fortunately, the Higher Education Commission is set to come out with a
policy next month that would recommend stringent punishment for plagiarists,
including the termination of their services. While those who copy others'
academic work and present it as their own deserve no less, it is important that
the HEC ensures that there are qualified teachers to replace them so that the
studies in a particular university department are not affected and students do
not suffer from the absence of teachers. The issue of academic plagiarism must
also be viewed in its entirety. The seeds of this scourge are sown much before
the stage of higher education is reached. In an intellectually impoverished
society such as ours, access to the Internet has provided students and teachers
alike with a ready means to copy ideas and essays of others and present them as
their own. The ability to think for oneself, to question and to form logical
conclusions is thus lost.
Educational authorities must realise this and
work towards inculcating sound values from the early stages. Admittedly, it
would be difficult - and impractical in the age of globalisation - to discourage
the use of the Internet. But students and teachers must be made to see this as a
tool of acquiring knowledge, rather than as a means of plagiarism. To this must
be added efforts to root out cheating and other academic irregularities which
are widespread. Tackling academic deceit at the lower level would mean fewer
cases of plagiarism later on. It would also lead to academic honesty among
teachers who, after all, have a crucial role to play in the educational
upbringing of their students. Dawn
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| Education News | | Updated: 24 May, 2012 |
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