India's exam cheats

Relatives climbing exam building to help students pass exams, in Bihar, India, March 2015

Source: © STRDEL/AFP/Getty Images

The national shame destroying a country’s scientific future

In 2015, photos of parents and friends climbing up high school walls to reach classroom windows in the Indian eastern state of Bihar were splashed across newspapers around the world. The students inside were sitting the crucial 10th standard public board exams (equivalent to the UK’s GCSEs). The climbers were there to help them cheat.