Apology Sought for Leak of Exam Answers

Ge JianXiong, a national political adviser and the library curator at Shanghai's Fudan University, demanded yesterday that the Ministry of Education apologize for the English test leak in the 2012 national entrance examinations for postgraduate studies.

More than 1.5 million people sat for the exams in January. Test takers complained that exam answers had been published online or sent to them via text message by training institutes about 30 minutes before the test.

Yuan Guiren, the minister of education, replied that they had already kicked off an investigation with police after receiving the leak report one day before the test, and the probe had achieved "great progress." He vowed to punish any education officials involved.

Authorities have blocked the web pages that leaked the test answers, he said.

About 5,000 people were caught cheating, and the inspection of test papers continues to find possible cheaters whose answers are similar to the online ones.

The suspected cheaters will be more strictly tested in a retrial, and those who are proved cheating will see their test scores canceled.

The country has invested hundreds of millions of yuan to crack down on exam fraud by improving the test facilities and adopting advanced equipment to detect high-tech frauds, Yuan said. But fraudulent activities are still rampant.

Exam answers were posted in a web forum before the 2011 Chinese National Uniform CPA Examination, held last September. The questions were also reportedly leaked for the certified architect exam last year.

The tests carry high stakes, as test takers expect their results to help them find jobs or increase salaries. But the leak also is very costly because it will erode trust in the exam.

Ge JianXiong, from Shanghai's Fudan University, demanded that the Ministry of Education apologize for the English test leak in the 2012 national entrance examinations for postgraduate studies. [China.org.cn]