With China's annual College Entrance Examination looming, the Ministry of Education said on Monday that it would set up a public "credibility record" to prevent exam fraud.

 

Cases of cheating in national educational tests, including the College Entrance Examination and postgraduate recruitment exams, would be entered on the record, said Lin Huiqing, a senior official with the ministry.

 

Lin said the record would be published online at the official website of the ministry's testing center, and made available to higher educational institutions and employers for reference.

 

Education chiefs have enacted measures to clean up the exam environment, including requiring test-takers to sign written pledges and increasing security checks at exam venues.

 

However, cheating is still on the rise. In last year's national college exam, about 3,000 students were caught cheating; in 2005, the number was 1,300.

 

Lin said provincial educational authorities have also been required to keep cheating records for provincial educational exams and report these to the ministry's testing center. The National College Entrance Examination is seen as one of the most important examinations in China, because it is the only chance for most high school students to get access to higher education.

 

Statistics from the Ministry of Education show a record 10.1 million people have applied to take the exam next month, but only 5.67 million will be able to enter college.

 

(Xinhua News Agency May 29, 2007)