The Department of Education (DepEd) released their official statement on Wednesday, September 22, regarding the recently discovered sharing of answers to self-learning modules (SLMs) on Facebook groups, namely “online kopyahan”. 

According to the department, they do not “tolerate the perpetuation of cheating regardless of the learning delivery modality.” 

The Facebook group “online kopyahan” is where students exchange notes and answers on their SLMs and even share answers for the exam. This community has reached more than 600,000 members, thus, necessary measures need to take place. 

“We have already sought the assistance of social media companies to ban these groups and prevent similar attempts of academic dishonesty that promote laziness, irresponsibility, and instant gratification.” DepEd said. 

After seeking help from social media companies and other governing authorities, Philippine National Police (PNP) joined the investigation ordering Anti-Cybercrime group (ACG) to work with DepEd in handling the said ‘online cheating’ surfacing on different social media groups. 

“After we heard DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones’ call for help, our ACG has been ordered to coordinate with DepEd to determine the help that the PNP could offer in this incident,” PNP Chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said in response to DepEd. 

DepEd encourages both parents and students to nurture holistic developed learners by “making the home and school as enabling environments for character development.”