Two teachers and at least 29 students have been caught cheating in the national college entrance examination in Songyuan, Jilin province.

Liu Yanhua, from the No. 1 High School of Fuyu County in Songyuan City, was charged with selling 27 cheating devices, including receivers, earphones, chargers and batteries, to parents of students before the national test.

She allegedly made a profit of more than 400,000 yuan ($59,000), a spokesman with the Songyuan Public Security Bureau said yesterday.

Liu confessed that she bought the cheating devices through a website in May and promised parents that she would send test answers to the students through the hi-tech devices during the examination, the spokesman said.

Acting on a tip-off, local police began investigating the case on June 2. Liu and her colleague He Shujie were detained by police on the night of June 4 when they were testing the cheating devices in an apartment building near the county's No. 4 High School, an exam venue.


During the operation, police destroyed three hideouts planned by the teachers as places for transmitting test answers near the county's No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4 high schools. They also confiscated a laptop, two printing machines, and a number of transmitting and receiving devices.

According to Chinese criminal law, the two teachers face an imprisonment of up to three years for selling detectaphones, the police spokesman said.

But it would not be a crime if the students did not use the cheating devices, he said.

The China Youth Daily reported 23 students were caught with the illegal devices as of June 8, the second day of the examination.

A further six students were caught asking another person to take the test on their behalf.

Officials were yesterday unable to say whether any more students were caught cheating on Tuesday, the final day of the three-day examination.

The development came as authorities revealed eight gangs in Jilin province, including one in Songyuan, were dismantled in the lead-up to the examination for allegedly selling cheating devices to students.

Zhang Tao, lawyer in Shanghai, said many people believed the reward of getting into a good college outweighed the risks of cheating. He called for stronger penalities for cheats.

Source:China Daily