Video cameras will be installed in almost 60,000 test centers around the country to prevent students cheating in the national college entrance examination, scheduled for June 7 and 8.

The Ministry of Education's test center will monitor the videos and keep all footage for future investigation in the event of any cheating allegations, said Zhang Weizhou, assistant to the center's director.

About 10.2 million students will sit for exam, which is seen by many as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get into university.

All test centers have been operating 24 hours a day since June 1. The centers can conduct an online inspection of any test area or backroom at any time, he said.

"The video monitoring will not give me any pressure," Li Fangzheng, 17, a senior high school student at Beijing No 80 Middle School, told China Daily on Thursday.

"These measures can help ensure the fairness of the exam and I feel more confident with my performance."

Meanwhile, people involved with drafting the examination have been in lockdown since the end of April and will not have contact with the outside world until the exam is over.

"The less people know about it, the safer," a statement on the ministry's website said.

Meanwhile, public security departments, armed police and the State Bureau of Protection of Confidential Documents, Disciplinary Inspection and Telecommunication have been enlisted to prevent cheating with high-tech equipment.

"To ensure the fairness for millions of test takers, this exam must be perfectly safe," the center's director Dai Jiagan said.

China resumed the college entrance exam in 1978 after the Cultural Revolution.

But the make-or-break exam has been burdened by cheating for many years, including early exposure of test content, passing on results through communication equipment and students using false identification.

In recent years, underground high-tech companies have posted advertisements online or outside schools to offer answers through a set of wireless communication equipments during the exam.

To block the transmission of these signals, test organizers deploy radio-monitoring cars outside examination centers.

Last week, northeast China's Jilin province dismantled two gangs accused of selling wireless communication equipment to students. Seven people were arrested, according to Jilin Daily.

In Guangdong, all examination rooms will be installed with an electronic monitoring system and all students will be monitored online during the exam, which will also be accessible remotely.

So-called "e-police" will monitor any student attempting to use radio and telecom facilities.

Those found cheating in the exam will face severe punishment, the ministry said.

The candidates who cheat through high-tech equipment or use false a ID will not be eligible to enroll in universities or participate for next year's exam.

College students found to have cheated will be expelled from the school. Any teachers found involved in cheating will be removed from their posts and other accomplices will be punished according to the related law, the statement said.

(China Daily June 5, 2009)