Vietnam bans student cheats
HANOI - Education authorities in Vietnam say they have
disqualified more than 2,000 students from
university entrance exams after widespread
cheating.
The second and final round of exams has
closed, with even more cheats than in the first
round.
Most students break the
rules because of the
pressure to get a
university degree, and
not because the exams
are difficult.
The respect and status
accorded to university
graduates in Vietnam's
Confucian society is the
reason many young
people want a university
degree.
A degree is also almost a guarantee of a job on
the state payroll, and gives prospects for
advancement.
But competition to enter a degree course is
tough.
There are more than 20 applicants for each
place on some of the most popular courses, in
medicine, foreign studies and economics.
One Ho Chi Minh City university has more than
20,000 candidates for its pharmaceutical
course.
Pressures
Teachers say the pressure for places leads
many students to cheat.
The most popular measures are bribing the
teachers who write the exam questions, or
buying a copy of the exam paper.
State television has shown pictures of people
selling exam papers in front of the education
ministry.
Some candidates pay others to take the exams
for them.
In some cases, students smuggle help into the
test in the form of mobile phones or
photocopied miniatures of their text books.
Beating the cheats
Education authorities have responded with
identity card and handwriting checks.
Police also regularly raid photocopying shops.
This year, the number of cheats discovered is
half of last year's figure, though more than
2,000 students will be disciplined.
Teachers say the pressures on students are
tougher in the more conservative north of the
country.
In Vietnam's southern economic hub, young job
seekers have more options, and a university
degree is not the only way to break into the
employment market.
By Clare Arthurs - BBC News Services - July 11, 2002.
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