Digital exam scams in China
p2pnet.net News:- "A test taker takes digital photos of all the questions and transmits them via cell phone. Someone waiting outside answers them all, then uses the same technology to reply. The core gadget is a mobile phone with photo-taking capabilities."
The above is a quote from a china.org.cn story slugged High-tech Cheating Runs Rampant.
"In feudal times when corruption was rampant, standard tests used to be the only vestige of fair competition in which meritocracy held its sway," it says, continuing: "Now this last bastion of integrity is under attack from all sides as cheating threatens to engulf this thousand-year-old institution of social fair play."
June is THE MONTH in China for exams and English is "a hurdle that must be overcome by anyone who wants to graduate with a degree," says the story. "It is also a prerequisite for a plethora of jobs."
Some 12,000 students in Hengyang, Hunan Province, took tests for English, math and chemistry but the test sheets were leaked.
"As long as Bart Simpson, the star of a popular US cartoon, does not become a hero in China, underachievement will be something one has to live with rather than something to be proud of," china.org.cn states.
They exams had to taken over again this month.
A variation of the scam highlighted in the first paragraph is having someone send answers to a mobile phone or beeper set on the silent ‘vibration mode’ to reduce the risk.
But it’s not all high tech, the story goes on, giving an example of a flyers and messages that are "ubiquitous on campus and Internet message boards:
"Seeking high-grade math student. High pay. If your English is good enough and your need for money is urgent enough, please call this number."
Or, "No risk. High pay. Take tests for others."
The equation has two parts: Lazy, or badly prepared, students; and, money.
"In Puyang, Henan Province, as many as 10 teachers were found to have ’sold their services for a total of 200,000 yuan (US$24,100), says china.org.cn. "They did not have the questions in advance, but the plot was so melodramatic that it may deserve a Hollywood treatment.
"On June 8, during the college entrance exam, a test-taker named Li was convulsed with a sudden stomach ache. He was escorted to the school clinic. On the way he passed a digital camera to his escort, a teacher named Guo. Li had taken photos of all his test sheets and had only to fake something to get close to Guo so that their clothes would touch and the passing of the camera would not be noticed.
"Guo hurried to a nearby place, where several teachers were waiting and quickly finished all the sheets. The results were then carried back to the sites and distributed to every "client" who had purchased the answers — 1,000 yuan (US$120) for each separate test. Media reports say the price actually varied quite a bit as there were middlemen who charged commissions for "sales." Some paid 2,000 yuan (US$240) for each test.
"Inspectors at each site where ‘clients’ were located had been bought out with ‘red envelopes’, which contained a gift of 200-1,000 yuan. Their ’service’ was to look away and feign ignorance."
China’s "overemphasis on test scores" is having multiple negative ramifications, cheating being only one of them, says the report, adding:
"Students are so test-oriented that they spend countless hours memorizing possible answers at the expense of fully understanding them, let alone developing the skill to use them in real life."
