invigilator:
(plural: ‘invigilators‘; pronunciation: the three ‘i’s’ in this word rhyme with the letter ‘i’ in “ink”; for the right pronunciation, please click here)
a person, usually a lecturer or teacher, who watches over students taking an examination in order to prevent them from cheating, i.e. cribbing, exchanging written matter, peeking, etc.,
an invigilator on duty in an exam hall
It is the invigilator’s duty to check all the students/candidates for any material that they may use for cheating on the exam before the exam starts.
Some exam invigilators are very strict and do not allow the exam taking candidates even to turn their heads and there are some invigilators who are very lax and let the candidates do some cribbing or other method of cheating.
In some educational institutions, as in Indian institutions, for instance, the resident teachers do the duties of invigilators, but in others, as in the UK institutions, the examination office employs qualified persons, mostly from other education institutions, to be their invigilators, which arrangement, the office believes, will discourage students and teachers of the same institution involving in exam malpractices.
