OPINION> EDITORIALS
Stop cheating
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-06-12 07:49

Cheating has existed as long as exams in human history. But seldom was cheating as appalling as the one that occurred in Songyuan county, Jilin province, early this week.

Cheating is dishonorable. Cheats know this. That's why they did do it covertly - to avoid being caught. But in this northeastern county, it seems cheating is taken for granted.

At the national college entrance examination, one student openly snatched the exam paper from behind another student for copying answers. What was shocking was that the supervisor in the room turned a blind eye to the incident. As a result, that honest student did not have enough time to finish answering all the questions.

Parents of candidates sitting for the exams were openly talking about buying gadgets for cheating, or bribing supervisors to make them look the other way. Even as candidates walked out of the exam halls, they would be discussing in groups about the number of answers they had copied from others.

In a neighboring county, two teachers were caught selling transmitting and receiving devices to students for cheating. The money involved is as much as 400,000 yuan.

The word "anger" is inadequate to describe the reaction of those who heard of this outrageous scandal.

Stop cheating

Many questions remain to be answered: How is it possible for some teachers to get involved in serious cheating? Why do the local education authorities - who cannot be ignorant of it - allow this to go unchecked? What are the implications of such rampant dishonesty for students?

It must have taken a long time for cheating at exams to develop into such a widespread and serious degree in this locality. Criminals engaged in selling devices for cheating had already been arrested prior to the exams.

Much tighter invigilation measures should have been taken. Local education authorities and government leaders should be charged with at least dereliction of duty for letting this happen.

What makes one shudder is not just the seriousness of cheating but the brazen way in which they went about it. Obviously, they have no respect for rules and for principles of fair play and justice. The involvement of teachers raises deeply disturbing questions about morality and ethics but also their lack of scruples and avarice.

Can students who cheat their way into universities be trusted not to cheat again, and again, in their lives? What of the damaging effect it has on the career and psyche of honest and diligent students who toil to move up the social scale? Will these students, who succeed by dint of hard work, still believe in social justice and equality, and values of self-development?

Those unscrupulous people are destructive to the future of this country. And, disillusioned youth cannot contribute to the nation's progress. Therefore, something must be done to stop cheating in examinations. Now.

(China Daily 06/12/2009 page8)