A school in Karnataka, India, is currently being criticized by authorities for forcing students to take an exam with cardboard boxes on their heads in a bizarre attempt to stop cheating during exams.

The officials of the Bhagat Pre-University College in Karnataka, South India, forced students to wear cardboard boxes on the top of their heads to stop them from looking at the exam papers of other students.

The school is currently being forced to make a public apology after a picture of the students wearing cardboard boxes went viral on social media.

The picture was taken earlier this week, and it shows students sitting down inside a classroom, taking a test as they wore boxes that covered their heads.

The boxes had holes in them so students could see what they were writing down.

MB Satish, an official of the Bhagat Pre-University College in Karnataka, apologized for their unusual way of tackling cheating.

The school said they did this as some schools were doing the same thing as an experimental basis to stop students from cheating.

Satish said everything was done with consent, and added that some of the students in the picture brought their own cardboard boxes.

During an interview with the press, Satish said, “There was no compulsion of any kind. You can see in the photograph that some students were not wearing it.”

Satish added, “Some who wore it removed it after 15 minutes, some after 20 minutes and we ourselves asked them to remove it after one hour.”

The school assured that they will not be using the same technique to tackle cheating, and said they are currently working with the local education authorities to stop cheating on their school premises.

An official notice was also sent to the school.

An official said, “A notice has been issued to Bhagat Pre-University College seeking an explanation for forcing its students to wear cardboard boxes while writing exams to prevent them from copying. Whatever be the purpose, [the students] cannot be made to wear cartons for writing exams.”

The official added, “There is no rule or advice from us.”