Students use ‘experts’ for GRE from home: Govt, US alerted

Few months back due to the ongoing pandemic, ETS gave an option for students to take the GRE exam from home. The move was to ensure that study abroad aspirants continue with their journey and not lose time due to the closing of the physical centers. However, this soon became detrimental to the overall importance of the GRE exam and suddenly there was a surge in high scorers specially from the region of Andhra Pradesh & Telangana. Why did this happen?

As cited by The Indian Express in its story on January 12th, 2021 –
https://indianexpress.com/article/education/students-use-experts-for-gre-from-home-govt-us-alerted-7142674/

Cheating by students taking the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) online from their homes, following the Covid-19 outbreak, has been red-flagged by the largest Indian franchise of US-based The Princeton Review.

Besides informing the ETS about the rise in fraudulent activities, the Indian franchisee has written to the Ministry of Education and Niti Aayog highlighting the ‘moral’ aspect of using unfair means and its impact on student’ quality.

The Indian Express spoke to several students who took the GRE with help from outside experts or ‘collaborators’. While none of them wished to be named, they revealed a meticulously-planned modus operandi.

Aradhana Mahna, co-founder and managing director, Manya – The Princeton Review, said some of their students, mostly from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, approached teachers for similar help. Manya – The Princeton Review runs more than 40 competitive exam prep centres across India and is the biggest operation of The Princeton Review outside the US. Manya – The Princeton Review has already informed ETS about the fraud, but Mahna said its response was a “bit casual”. Hence, Manya – The Princeton Review has now pointed it out to the government.