Reporters and members of the media are heavily relied upon by local authorities to lead crackdown against cheaters. (Photo : Xinhua)
For the second consecutive year, authorities are relying on the power of media outlets to catch anyone who attempts to cheat his or her way through the National High Education Entrance Examination, often referred to as the "gaokao."
On the first day of the nationwide tests alone, police were able to catch a student who paid a substitute to take the rigorous exam on his behalf. The apprehended student was Li Shiyu, who was unaware that the substitute he paid was an undercover reporter.
It has only recently come to light that local authorities were completely unaware that fakers have infiltrated exam halls; the media changed that with an expose.
The reporter who unveiled the infiltration began his task in November last year, when he corresponded with a group of substitute exam sitters. After being taken in, he was asked to take a photo for a fake ID in May and kept in correspondence with the group via phone or Internet.
The journalist, who works for Guangzhou's Southern Metropolis Daily, only met other sitters on June 5 in Wuhan, Hubei Province. The night before the first day of the gaokao, he was given his fake ID and exam credentials. The next morning saw the reporter alerting the authorities and visiting the address listed on his fake identification card.
It was revealed that Li Shiyu, the student who hired his services, came from a wealthy family but did badly at school.
His detention by the authorities was announced through a three-minute press conference conducted by the Jiangxi Provincial Education Department on the same day.
The reporter has been lauded by his bravery for going undercover, while local education and law enforcement officials were criticized for the apparent failure in doing their work well.
A similar incident happened in 2014, when a substitute exam sitter ring was busted in Henan Province. As a result, 165 illegal exam takers, as well as 58 educational staff and 127 substitute sitters, were detained by the authorities.
