Yesterday, 1st Year BCOM students received an email from FEMA regarding collusion in the EMA1008 Test. A decision was taken to give 0% to all students across the board in that specific test, allowing for students to resit the test but limiting their future mark to 45%. The email left the entire student body and the general public, quite dumbfounded.
What Actually Happened
There seem to be some discrepancies about the whole situation. So, The Third Eye spoke to a BCOM student to get some clarity on the ordeal.
The unit EMA1008 consists of 3 test papers- one being given every two weeks and each consisting of 33% of the final mark. This specific test was the second of the three. Students’ had already been given warning after having been caught cheating on Test 1 in the main BCOM group chat on messenger.
Student’s were caught cheating once again on Test 2 and of course, FEMA had to take action with this email:
The decision was made after 43 screenshots of a group chat were brought up to the faculty as evidence for this occurrence. Somewhat resembling this one:
The ‘Unjust’ Consequences
FEMA decided that to reduce the mark of this test to a 0, for all students who sat for the test. This decision was made in line with section 3c of the official University of Malta Examination Regulations. They also decided not to penalise anyone on the other 2 tests. This arrangement gives students the opportunity to pass without the need for a resit. That is, if they manage to get the required 45 marks out of the remaining 66 marks.
This decision fails to acknowledge the students that tried their best to abide by the rules, resist temptation to cheat and ignore those people who carelessly discussed answers on the main group chat. Surely there must be an alternative way to settle this issue.
Shortly after the ordeal, multiple student organisations, including ASCS- Association of Students of Commercial Studies, released their statement about the matter;
๐๐๐๐: S๐ญ๐๐ญ๐๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ S๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ U๐ง๐ข๐ญ D๐๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง.
๐๐ก๐ ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐๐๐ซ๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐๐ค๐๐ง ๐๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐๐ข๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ค๐๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐จ ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ ๐ง๐ฎ๐ฆ๐๐๐ซ ๐จ๐ ๐ข๐ง๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ. ASCS has ๐๐๐๐ง ๐ข๐ง๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ซ๐๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐๐๐ญ๐ ๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฌ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐จ๐จ๐ง ๐๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ฅ๐. However, they are confident that a ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ก๐ข๐๐ฏ๐๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ฐ๐๐๐ง ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐จ๐๐ฒ.
ASCS strongly condemns cheating in every form and are aware that the faculty in charge of handling this situation was required to take action. Students should abide by the regulations at all times, especially now that examination formats have changed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, we strive for the fair treatment of all and find it unjust to take a blanket decision of failing every student in their first University test, including individuals who were completely unaware of the situation at hand.
The penalisation for the unit will be given on one of the 3 tests carried out throughout the unit. Further investigations are still being discussed by the board. The organisation believes that these accusations should not penalise the ones who acted fairly throughout the test and believe that the matter should be looked into in order to address a proper way of penalisation.
What did the students have to say about it?
The decision left students rampant. The Third Eye reached out to first year students who experienced the ordeal first hand. For the sake of ensuring confidentiality, their identities will be kept anonymous. This is what they had to say:
I felt like I wasted my time and money. I could have studied another subject and instead I wasted money on private lessons that I could have used for something else.
The student carried on telling The Third Eye,
I didn’t even check the group chat because I was worried they [ the other students] were going to post wrong answers.
KSU’s Statement
The main representatives of the student body believe that the action taken in the case is unjust.
It is unjust that students who worked hard and sat for their exam independently of their peers whilst following all regulations receive a failing mark due to the actions of other students. Therefore, KSU calls for the reconsideration of this decision, following a thorough process that considers students individually rather than en masse.
Statement released by KSU on the 4th of January 2021
Refreshing Perspectives on the Matter
There seems to be a ray of hope however. The multiple pressures from several student organisations and platforms has lead the Dean of FEMA to reconsider the decision. This morning Prof. Frank Bezzina- the Dean of FEMA, got in contact with The Third Eye, stating the following:
As I write, I have constituted a new Disciplinary Board chaired by myself to review the previous Board decision and look afresh into the matter.
The Third Eye will be posting updates regarding this issue as the relevant information is released.