China's university exam cheats may face seven years in jail

ASTANA. KAZINFORM - Students who cheat during this year's university entrance exams in China could be jailed for up to seven years, state media have said, as the government tries to crack down on a pervasive problem for the highly competitive exams.

Cheaters will, for the first time, face jail if convicted, and be banned from taking other national education exams for three years under an amendment to the criminal law, the official Xinhua news agency said.

"Educational authorities believe that by dangling the prospect of a harsh punishment in front of the test-takers, it will safeguard the fairness of the tests, widely seen as an important part of social justice," popular tabloid the Global Times added.

The education ministry and police have repeatedly urged local governments to get serious about tackling the problem, and a crackdown has been launched to target wireless devices used to cheat and also the problem of substitute exam-sitters, according to Xinhua.

The university exams, which began on Tuesday, are a moment of high stress in China, as millions of students compete for a limited number of university places.

This year, 9.4 million high school students are expected to take the exam, known in China as the gaokao.

Source: The Guardian.com