25 students believed to cheat entrance tests
Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post, Semarang | Sat, 06/19/2010 12:07 PM
Cheating gets a high-tech boost in Semarang, Central Java, where 25 participants sitting for state university entrance tests were believed to have cheated by using cell phones, an official said Friday.
The entrance test's committee head Supriadi Rustad told The Jakarta Post in Semarang that the latest case was exposed when exam supervisors caught three participants using cell phones with headsets when doing the test.
He said the students aimed to enrol at medical schools at different state universities and were willing to pay between Rp 150 million (US$16,700) and Rp 400 million if accepted.
"Equipped with hi-tech devices, the exam participants were guided by listening to someone on the headsets in answering questions," said Supriadi.
On Wednesday, exam supervisor Nur Fatehah caught a female participant from a senior high school in West Kalimantan, communicating with someone by using a cell phone when doing the test. The girl had apparently hid the phone by taping it to her chest and hiding the headset under her headscarf.
On Thursday, supervisors again caught two participants - a male student from Indramayu in West Java and a female from Kediri in East Java - doing the same thing.
The girl also hid the cellphone under her clothes and headset under her headscarf, while the male hid the phone in his specially-designed pants and headset under his shirt.
"We believe a syndicate is involved in the fraud. The three people caught red-handed apparently stayed at the same hotel in Ungaran. They admitted that 25 other exam participants were staying at the same hotel.
"They are mostly from outside Semarang. All had chosen medical schools at various universities such as Diponegoro University in Semarang, Brawijaya University in Malang and Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta," said Supriadi.
"We learned from the police that they had been coordinated by a woman named Shinta," said Supriadi.
He said 22 of the 25 exam participants were involved in the scam. Most of the transactions involved the parents.
