A law is being drafted to help education authorities deal with
exam cheats.
Education Ministry spokesman Wang Xuming said on Wednesday the
draft will be submitted to the Office of Legislative Affairs of the
State Council for approval later this year.
More than 1.2 million students sat this year's postgraduate
examination last weekend and numerous cheats were exposed.
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In Shanxi province, authorities cracked down on 10 groups involved
in organized cheating, and in Guangdong province, some cheaters
were caught using two-way radios to communicate during exams.
In a recent survey by China Youth Daily, 83 percent of the 900
college students polled admitted to cheating in exams.
Without a legal regulation, schools and universities have
adopted various measures to punish cheats. On occasion, cases have
gone to court.
The examination law will "upgrade exam order and standards",
Wang said.
Students have adopted innovative ways to cheat, and authorities
want to discourage it with tough penalties, he said.
Current punishments, according to Ministry of Education
regulations, include a mandatory fail.
On Tuesday, the education ministry held a seminar on examination
law involving dozens of legal experts.
Professor Yang Lixin from the Renmin University of China, said
the exam law was urgent because the country had no "unified
regulations".
"Currently, anyone can hold an exam and disputes can occur over
procedures and results as there are no rules," he said.
(China Daily January 25, 2008)
