UAE official says cheating students must be penalised

Abu Dhabi: Dr Badr Aboul Ela, Director of Commission for Academic Accreditation Authority, Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, said students should be penalised when caught cheating or plagiarising.

"We require every institute to implement polices and procedures placed in both the university catalogues and student handbooks. There should be an article on plagiarism made very clear to students," he said.

Newcomers should be told about the importance of sticking to the code of ethics, since some may not be aware of the ethics behind plagiarism.

"To our surprise we have found some students plagiarising in certain institutes across the UAE, especially with the increased use of the internet.

"For that purpose we require educational institutions to install and use a new software called 'Turnitin' which detects where the source and reference comes from," said Aboul Ela.

To say that 80 per cent of students cheat is alarming and an exaggerated statistic for Aboul Ela, who feels that the plagiarism can be avoided and eventually eliminated.