BANGKOK (AP) – Glasses with embedded cameras and smartwatches with stored information seem like regular spy equipment for the likes of James Bond, but for three students applying to medical school in Thailand, they were high-technology cheating devices.
Bangkok’s Rangsit University canceled its examinations on Saturday and Sunday for admission to its medical and dental faculties following the discovery of the unusual modus operandi by three female students.
While cheating has long been a problem in Thai schools and colleges, the use of high-tech gear – the cameras were used to take pictures of the test sheet and the smartwatches to receive answers from someone outside – has taken the practice to a whole new plane.
“We’ve never found cheating of this level – involving high-technology,” university official Kittisak Tripipatpornchai told The Associated Press. “We’ve had some cases of students copying from one another, which is quite normal. But now we’re going to be paying much closer attention,” said Kittisak, the director of academic standards office at the private university.
Cheating is a marked aberration in the list of good behavior expected of Thais. From a young age, Thais are taught to be polite, tolerant, respectful and to avoid confrontation. But educators say cheating has flourished because of an education system that makes exam scores the only criterion for assessing a student’s ability and granting admission into places of higher learning.