Second chance

After a crackdown on cheating, it was found that only 25% of the Cambodians who set their leaving High School exams passed.

What does this low statistic tell you?  That most Cambodians are cheats?  That their academic ability is lacking?  That their instructors did not do a good job?

Indeed, it is a struggle for this country.  Teachers try to compensate their low salaries by offering tuition at a price.  When I lived there, I heard that many students even had to pay to get their exams marked.  If such is the environment in which they grew up, it is inevitable that they link academia with extra payments - many people outside the system would consider these "extra payments" as bribery.

Many of the Cambodians I have met are very studious.  They are able to think analytically and are pretty astute with languages and many other areas.  In my opinion, these students would do well academically, even without cheating.  But, the nature of the system in their home country puts them in poor light even though their abilities shine.

The University system would not work well, unless they accept students of the right caliber.  This high failure rate does little to boost confidence in the University qualifications.

The students who failed the recent exams have been offered a second chance.

Will they do better the second time around?  Will they have enough time to prepare, if they have been slack throughout the whole of their High-school life?  Will the second time be as strict against cheating as was the first test?

Was the crackdown on cheating bad?

How can this problem be avoided?

What would you do, if you lived in this situation?  What would you do if you were one of these students who had to do these recent exams?