Exam cheats get an earful in China

BEIJING - Chinese students are finding innovative ways to get through this month's university entrance exams, including microphones up sleeves and wireless earphones used to check answers with mates on the "outside" with their heads buried in textbooks.

It's a high-tech but fairly straightforward way of cribbing answers, but some cheats have run into a few technical hitches along the way.

Many are prepared to take the risk given the hugely competitive environment - there are 9.5 million people battling it out for 2.6 million places.

In Wuhan, one student's 3mm "micro-earphone" slipped into his aural canal and perforated his eardrum, the China Daily reported.

Another student needed an operation to have the earphones removed and in another case, a student who had strapped a device to his body was taken to hospital after it exploded.

In one exam hall in the city, more than 100 devices to help the students cheat were found, including tiny transmitting devices hidden in vests, wallets and trouser waistbands.

Some universities have installed cameras and cellphone blocking technology to stop people cribbing.

Education is a highly competitive business in China. Most students agree the CET English exam is the most important as it is used by employers to gauge their language proficiency. As a consequence, it attracts the most cheats.

In China's northwest Shaanxi Province, a school principal and deputy were punished for fraud following this year's college entrance examination, after four students were caught taking the exams for other students.

'Stern punishment will be given to the persons who are responsible for the case," Sun Jinghu, the local Government official said.

Exam season is stressful for any student, but after more than 30 years of the One Child Policy, many of the students are only-children, who have an extra burden of expectation to bear. Rising affluence in the cities has merely added to the pressures.

But it's not just students getting stressed about their studies.

Outside the exam halls, parents stop traffic and remonstrate with drivers using their horns to ensure their children's tests are not disturbed.

Construction sites are barred from operating at night in residential areas to make sure the students get a good night's sleep.

- INDEPENDENT