Bucharest University rector Marian Preda endorsed the proposal drafted by the Law Faculty's Council for expelling 45 first-year law students who repeatedly cheated in their online exams this winter, Edupedu.ro reported.

"The evidence underlying the decisions shows, without any doubt, that the students in question have obviously and repeatedly violated the faculty and the university regulations at several exams. We also have testimonies from the students who admitted, during the discussions with the faculty representatives, that they cheated the exams," said Preda, adding that the university had only one option to sanction the fraud: expelling the students.

"I would not want to easily get over the moral component of this situation, especially since the current students of the Faculty of Law are the ones who will do justice in the future, and a strong state, the rule of law, needs fair, honest lawyers and good professionals," Marian Preda said.

The law faculties from the Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University in Iasi, and Lucian Blaga University in Sibiu issued support statements expressing "solidarity with the Bucharest University's Law Faculty in its effort not to tolerate undisputed fraud."

This is one of the biggest university scandals in Romania in recent years. It comes after a challenging year during which local universities had to switch to online courses and exams due to the pandemic.

However, most universities have been struggling when it comes to the online evaluation of their students. The expelled students reportedly organized in WhatsApp groups where they shared answers to exam questions and ways to bypass the anti-fraud measures adopted by the faculty for the online exams.   

(Photo: Vladsogodel | Dreamstime.com)

andrei@romania-insider.com