"Whole idea of trust but verify". To what extent do you agree with this "idea" as a feasible solution to curb academic dishonesty in your country?

The idea of ‘trust but verify’ is the reliance on both school honour codes as well as plagiarism-detection software to prevent students from cheating in academics. While not an ignoble idea, the method itself entails two conflicting acts. The act of verification would no doubt be an indication of the institution’s mistrust towards its students. How then would the school expect its students to adhere to its honour code? Integrity on the students’ part could well depend on the willingness of the school to trust them, and in the ‘trust but verify’ system, such trust on the school’s part is evidently lacking.

However, the guilty-until-proven-innocent argument as mentioned in the passage may be dispelled with the implication of the ‘trust-but-verify’ system. Students who previously had no qualms cheating under a pure verification system may now find themselves at odds with their conscience. When schools rely solely on plagiarism-detection software to uncover cheating incidents, students may feel that the school is actually expecting them to cheat, thus do not feel guilty when they do so. If schools adjust their anti-cheating campaign to show more strongly that students are not expected to cheat, such as adopting the idea of ‘trust but verify’, there is a high probability that the amount of cheating incidents will lessen.

In Singapore, almost all educational institutions have an honour code for students to uphold, within which is a commitment for a student to uphold his/her integrity. While the majority would adhere to the rules and abstain from academic dishonesty, there might be a few people who think themselves above the law, or that the ends justify the means, or for whatever reason plagiarise and cheat. The sad truth is that there will always be a few students who cheat, abusing the trust of their teachers. This is where the whole idea of ‘trust but verify’ comes in. Trust alone is never effective, and preventive measures should be taken to ensure that those who violate that trust do not get away with it. Moreover, if students are upright and honest, they have nothing to fear from an extra layer of security against academic dishonesty as plagiarism-detection software will turn out clean results.

In conclusion, the idea of ‘trust but verify’ is a feasible solution to curb academic dishonesty in Singapore. Putting a dependence on the moral values of the students as well as using technology to enforce the no-cheating policy will limit the amount of cheating incidents to a bare minimum. In the long run, it will also cultivate students’ sense of integrity, laying the foundations for them to lead an honest, upright life.

Jia Han, Edmund, Jonlim, Shiyuan