Gatchalian urges DepEd, CHED to intensify efforts vs ‘sagot-for-sale’ scheme

Senate Basic Education Committee chairman Sherwin Gatchalian urged education authorities and institutions to intensify their efforts against various forms of “distance cheating” in the current blended learning setup.

“Kung hindi natin wawakasan itong sagot for sale at iba pang anyo ng pandaraya sa distance learning, lalong hindi matututo ang mga mag-aaral," Gatchalian said in a Saturday statement. "At kapag nalusutan nila ito sa unang pagkakataon, uulit-ulitin na nila ang ganitong pandaraya. Dekalidad na edukasyon ang nakasalalay dito.”

(If we will not end this sagot-for-sale and other forms of cheating in distance learning, the students will not learn. These forms of cheating will recur if it’s not addressed. The quality of education is being compromised here.)

He emphasized that continuous education, despite the limitations brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, seeks to ensure that the youth will not only learn, but that this would also mold students into honest, excellent, and trustworthy citizens.

Gatchalian disclosed that the sagot-for-sale scheme involved parents who hired other people to answer modules for their children.

He said some students and parents paid P150 to P500 for others to complete school requirements.

Aside from completing modules, writing research papers and essays, and video editing were among the other services offered.

Students from junior high school, senior high school, and even college have been making use of these academic cheating services.

Most of them can be tracked by using the hashtags #AcademicCommission, #AcademicWriting, and #AcademicService, among others.

Gatchalian also urged education authorities to enable teachers to detect cheating in academic outputs through the use of assessment technologies. — DVM, GMA News