A matter of moral principle

TO WHAT EXTENT THE FAIRNESS OF THE national college entrance examinations has been undermined is a question that needs to be answered, when more than 100 college entrance examinees in Central China's Henan province have been found to have hired substitutes to sit the just concluded exams for them.

The case is under investigation and it is yet to be revealed how many people were involved. There could be many, including the families of examinees, those who helped find the substitutes, those who lubricated the channels with bribes for the proctors and those who took a bribe, as well as those who turned a blind eye to the cheating.

What is even more shocking is the revelation that providing such substitutes for candidates has become a business, with the entire process, from hiring substitutes, sending the substitutes to the exam venues and making sure they get safely out of the exams, taken care of.