Cheaters

I recently finished proctoring final exams at the university. What an experience! One instructor said, "90% of students cheat!" But, the prof didn't do anything to the cheaters. She took away their cheat sheets and placed them on the table in front of the lecture hall, and allowed them to continue taking the exam. What does that teach them? That cheating is OK, because nothing bad happens! I was horrified! In the US, cheaters fail the exam or they fail the class, or they are suspended for a semester!

Normally, there are 2 proctors for each exam hall because there are at least 140 students present. But, the last day the other proctor didn't come. I was alone with 150 students. The first exam session is supposed to be 3:00-5:00 pm, one subject for two hours. But, the test had 2 subjects, psychology in French and sociology in Arabic, for a total of 2 & 1/2 hours. And these are English majors. Imagine studying in three languages! Students had questions on the exam; "Are we to do both exams on one sheet or two sheets?" Since i wasn't their professor, i said, "I don't know."

The suspects were sitting by the right front of the classroom. The guy in front was dark; he looked African. The one behind him appeared Saharoui. When i took attendance, i noted that the Saharoui wasn't in the right lecture hall. He was from group 11. I was proctoring groups 9 and 10. He was argumentative and agitated. "What's wrong? Why can't i be here?"
Everytime i looked over their part of the class, Saharoui was looking out the window. He didn't write anything for a long time, at least 30-40 minutes. What was he doing? I walked over to him and checked his exam papers. He was holding several, which was strange because each student received only two. I wanted to examine them so i took hold of his papers. "Let me see them," i said. He held on tight and wouldn't let go of them. "I have 8 sheets!" he exclaimed. "I need to see them!" i insisted. But, he still held on. We had a 'tug-of-war' until finally i ripped them away from him. As soon as i saw the sheets, i realized that they were cheat sheets. Stolen university exam sheets with notes on them. I confisgated them and circled the names of Saharoui and African.

Another suspect was whispering to a girl in head scarf behind him. I directed him to move seats. He shrugged, acting innocent. I told him to move again. 20 minutes later, he was whispering to another hijaabed female student, asking for answers. "Finish your exam" i reminded him. He got up from his chair and turned in his exam. "What did i do?" he asked, acting innocent. I scoffed and laughed at him, "Come on! I saw you! I know what you were doing!" I slapped him on the back and sent him packing. "Go on! Get out of here!"
So, i caught 3 cheaters! And missed the other 120!