I had to smile and chuckle at breakfast this morning. Russia is having a conniption fit. A fit over something that is so common place in the Western world that it has become ignored by Western society in general…
MOSCOW, June 16 (Itar-Tass) – Moscow university students who tried to pass graduate tests for schoolchildren, were caught red-handed in the Russian capital on Wednesday while taking the unified state examination. This is the second major scandal with the examination over the past several days. In expert opinion, as a result, anybody is to be called to responsibility, but not officials who created this system of education…
So while sipping that coffee I was doing some thinking’s about why this is no big deal! Or should I say it really is a big deal but welcome to the real world Russia…
I have noticed that Russians are still coping with the fall of the Soviet Empire and when issues like test cheating and such happen they still cause waves of disgust all over the country. I hope that they (Russians) never loose those feelings of disgust because the world that I came from (America) cheating on tests is second nature…
I remember how appalled I was at the level of cheating in schools as I grew up. The cheating on tests in high schools was just a primer for the vast unchecked level of cheating in a University…
At the University level it was akin to a ticket scalpers at test times. Days before exams you could always find helpful individuals that had copies of said tests for a nominal fee. The price would range from $20 to $100 according to importance of test…
My favorite (Which is the issue in Russia) people waited outside the doors of the test hall and would for a fee ($) take the test for you. What with sometimes 200+ people taking an exam, it was easy peasy to perform such actions. I never once was required to show any form of ID to take a test. I could have been anyone taking my tests. Name and student number was all that was required…
As in high school, the universities had a huge network that catered to cheating and really, I grew up with the facts presented, that being a looser was much worse than being a cheater…
Of course in school, in the America that I grew up in. The kids who had rich parents always seemed to have several things going for them. They always had good grades, new cars and never went to school half the time. I always knew that it was money buying a life for them. But it hit me full in the face as I was getting a degree of Biology in a University. I was working full time. I was going to school full time. I was married and had children. It was in the early 90’s. I was stretched thin and it was rough…
Sam Walton of Walmart built a library at my university. Because he built this library he got an honorary doctorate and his kids did also. I know all this because I did all the food and catering for all functions revolving around this special occasion. I ran the food service of the University. I was there as he (they) received their diplomas…
I remember how floored I was at this icing on the cake as I struggled to even pass tests. People with money just bought their way through any school…
But that is OK because I did not cheat. I saw no reason to cheat. So my grades suffered as a result. I was offered several times to obtain better grades by professors who needed extra money. It was just not me…
But I still find it amusing when I see Russians upset over this and I personally hope that they stay upset. I have lived that life of cheaters and find it disgusting in a society…
For as I tell Sveta. “One day, no one will say a word about such actions. Because it will have become so ingrained into society that 90% of the people will stop seeing the atrocities such as cheating…”
Lets hope that Russians never get to that point of life – oblivious to societies deviations…
Windows to Russia!
China needs the gas and Russia needs to sell it. Russia is looking at a huge gas contract (I mean huge!) with China and may sign a gas contract during China’s President Hu Jintao’s visit to Moscow.