Russia hit by exam cheating epidemic
Russia has been hit by an epidemic of cheating in nationwide school exams after pupils in eastern regions passed on the questions to others taking the tests in later time zones.
Russian schools and universities are beset by corruption, with parents and students often paying privately for improved facilities or higher marks in tests and essays Photo: ALAMY
By Tom Parfitt, Moscow
2:28PM BST 28 May 2013
Teenagers tackling the Unified State Exam (EGE) in Siberia and the Far East region where Vladivostok is situated shared their exam papers online – meaning pupils in the west of the country had time to bone up and find the answers.
Russia has nine time zones, making it impossible for exams to be taken simultaneously across all regions.
The state education watchdog, Rosobrnadzor, said on Monday it had identified at least 30 cases of EGE Russian language tests being posted online in 18 different regions. It is thought the papers were accessed via social networks and widely used for cheating.
"People took the exam in the Far East, threw everything on to the web, and then the copying began," said Dmitry Medvedev, the prime minister. He called for a crackdown, saying that any pupil caught passing on questions or answers should have the results of their own test annulled.
"This is not helpful, it's harmful," he added, speaking of the sharing of papers between children, who take the exam aged 16 to get into universities.
"This needs to be remembered, including by those who organise the holding of the EGE on the local level."
That comment appeared to suggest officials or teachers took part in stealing blank exam papers.
Russian schools and universities are beset by corruption, with parents and students often paying privately for improved facilities or higher marks in tests and essays. One scam, exposed in universities in 2005, was for brainy "dvoyniki" (doubles) who impersonated friends or paying customers in order to sit their exams.
The country's science and education ministry has been mired in scandal in recent months. On Tuesday, the general prosecutor's office said six ministry officials were sacked after a check found 1,323 PhD dissertations were illegally awarded. Igor Fedyukin, the deputy education minister resigned.
A series of politicians and government officials have been accused of plagiarising dissertations to gain academic qualifications.
