Target: Leonardo Lomelí Vanegas, Rector of National Autonomous University of Mexico
Goal: Reform system that placed admissions for thousands of students in doubt.
India was rocked when nearly two dozen young people reportedly committed suicide because their test scores for a highly competitive and intensive education entrance exam were invalidated. When word emerged that the contents of the exam had been leaked, all test takers – including ones under no suspicion for cheating – were forced to retake the rigorous exam. The crushing news apparently pushed kids who had devoted months and years of their lives to preparing for the test to take their own lives. Widespread protests followed. Unfortunately, a similar scandal is brewing in Mexico, this time with the hot-button issue of AI at the epicenter.
In the Mexican case, admission tests for the prestigious National Autonomous University of Mexico also fell under suspicion for cheating. Roughly 3,000 out of 150,000 applicants had suspicious scores. But just as with the India case, every test-taker faced the consequences, with their successful results now in limbo. The controversy has arisen in the wake of the university’s adoption of an AI monitoring system for online exams: a system that has fallen under scrutiny for its suspected deficiencies. Students believe they are being punished for the failures of a system that was touted as an upgrade.
Sign the petition below to urge this respected institution to make things right for prospective students present and future.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Rector Lomelí Vanegas,
The tragedy that unfolded from India’s National Eligibility cum Entrance Test controversy – a controversy that has reportedly cost at least 21 young lives – serves as a warning signal. Students who are being asked to meet the educational challenges of their lives and who have risen to those challenges are having their lives and their futures derailed because of circumstances beyond their control. The vast majority of the 150,000 students who took UNAM’s admissions exam did so in good faith, and they should not be punished for the reckless behaviors of a select few.
Artificial intelligence monitors clearly need work and improvement. Please reconsider utilizing these untested technologies in a setting where futures are at stake. And please find a fair and equitable solution for the tens of thousands of young people already impacted by this preventable error in judgment.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: This and No Internet 25
