Cheating widespread in high-pressure schools

Fifteen-year-old schoolgirl Payali knew she was doing wrong when she scribbled mnemonics on her hands before entering one of India's thousands of examination rooms.

But like many other students, the pressure to pass her annual exams was too intense, she said, so she used the memory prompts to cheat.

Failure would jeopardize her chances of climbing out of poverty, which has long shackled her family.