For the first time, China is imposing criminal charges to candidates proven guilty for cheating in the gaokao or the country's national college entrance examinations, the Global Times reported.
Analysts agree that the move was made by Chinese educational authorities to safeguard the tests' fairness. Giving such harsh punishment is widely seen by the experts as a vital part of rendering social justice.
"Safeguarding fairness in the gaokao and education in general is the baseline for China to maintain social justice," Xiong Bingqi, vice president of the Beijing-based 21st Century Education Research Institute, said.
Enacted in November last year, a Criminal Law amendment states that cheaters could face up to seven years in jail. Apart from this, those guilty will also be banned from taking other national academic tests for the next three years.
"The ministries of education (MOE) and public security (MPS) have repeatedly urged local authorities to combat gaokao-related crimes," the article said.
Official figures show that more than 170 suspects have been arrested in connection with this matter, while over 6,000 pieces of illegal data, may it be online or from other resources, have been discovered.
The MOE announced that some of the cheaters' way of scamming through the test include cheating equipment and advertisements selling answers.
With the alarming figure, China has launched a national campaign that would help in cracking down on substitute exam takers, the sale of wireless gadgets for cheating and illegal gaokao content online.
Media site thepaper.cn earlier reported that devices used for cheating have become sophisticated over the years. These modern products range from headphones, watches and even T-shirts with receivers to equipment typically used for spying, the Global Times noted.
The article also pointed out that gaokao cheating has also evolved, from being an individual action to becoming an organized criminal practice, which sometimes involves teachers and even test organizers.
Besides the national government's anti-cheating intiatives, local officials are also implementing other measures to help students take gaokao efficiently. These schemes include traffic control as well as noise abatement around the venues of the national entrance tests.