Cheating students 'barred from exams'

The 27 universities under the Council of University Presidents of Thailand (CUPT) are considering a ban on smartwatches during exams as part of the group's efforts to prevent cheating.

The move came after three students who took the entrance exams for the College of Medicine, Faculty of Dental Medicine and Faculty of Pharmacy at Rangsit University (RSU) on Saturday were found to have used smartwatches and other hi-tech devices to cheat in an operation allegedly organised by a tutoring institute.

RSU cancelled the exams for these three faculties and asked over 3,000 students who took the exams to re-take the tests again on May 31 and June 1, citing "cheating carried out by a well-organised syndicate using electronic devices" as the reason for the cancellation.

A representative of RSU filed a complaint Monday at Pak Klong Rangsit police station in Pathum Thani province against three students for allegedly using high-tech devices to cheat during exams, in violation of RSU policy.

Nares Pantaratorn, vice-president of RSU for academic affairs, told the Bangkok Post the students wore a "smartwatch" allegedly provided by a private tutoring institute to receive test answers.

The cheating syndicate allegedly sent three people to collect exam questions during the exam.

Two of them wore glasses embedded with a video camera to capture exam questions and the other person waited outside to transfer the footage that the two proxies filmed.

The footage was transferred into laptops and emailed to the tutoring institute where a team compiled answers that were then sent to the students' smartwatches. The tutoring institute promised students a 100% success rate in passing exams.

According to police, the three proxies were identified as Narong Bomboonnak, 26; Chalermwong Sodarattana, 21; and Chatchai Yowaphui, 22.

They are reported to be fourth-year students of another university.

RSU rector Arthit Ourairat said Monday this case is the most high-tech case of cheating he has seen.

While all universities in Thailand have imposed various measures to prevent cheating such as banning mobile phones and issuing multiple versions of exam papers, it is still difficult to eradicate cheating because cheaters always come up with new techniques and strategies, said CUPT president Udom Kachintorn.

To deal with the problem, CUPT members are considering a ban on smartwatches that can be used by students to perform mathematical calculations, language translation, note taking and photography.

Other measures will also be discussed.

At present, smartwatches are banned in exams in several developed countries, including the UK and US.

"As today's gadgets make it easier to cheat than before, exam organisers need to improve so they can stay one step ahead of tech-savvy cheaters," said Mr Udom.

"I think our society has not taught children well enough to realise that cheating is a dangerous and serious matter, and parents haven't done a good job when it comes to teaching values like honesty and integrity, so everybody needs to help address the problem."

Somsak Lolekha, president of the Medical Council of Thailand, said the students will be permanently barred from taking any future tests to become doctors as they have demonstrated clearly unethical behaviour in an exam for a career that demands extraordinary ethical standards.

Deputy police spokesman Pol Colonel Krissana Pattanacharoen said the three proxies have not been charged as wearing glasses with cameras during an exam is not illegal, despite breaking university regulations. However, police will summon them for questioning to determine what type of action to take against the tutoring institute.

Source:
courtesy of BANGKOK POST

by Dumrongkiat Mala

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