CHINA: A group of Chinese students have been charged with stealing state secrets to run an examination scam. It is alleged that they stole the answers to national university matriculation exams and sent them by mobile phone text messages.
The China Daily newspaper said 20 students were detained last week at a high school in the central province of Henan after the highly competitive exams.
Five are still being held in a local jail and another suspect, a second-year university student in the north-western province of Gansu, has also been detained.
Officials are also looking for the mother of one student, who they believe masterminded the scam. Police have confiscated a computer and mobile phones from the family's home.
According to the local media, examinees would leave the exam hall during tests. They would pass on questions to a waiting group of senior high-school students who worked out the answers and sent them by SMS to the students sitting the exams in the hall. Ironically, the parent of one student was quoted as saying that the answers sold to students were not totally accurate.
Students paid up to 1,000 yuan (€99) for the answers - a significant sum in a country where the average weekly wage is about €10.
Chinese students are under huge pressure to perform well at exams. The national entrance exam is an important turning point for many students in the world's most populous nation.
University places are coveted in this country of 1.3 billion people. If a student receives enough points, he or she can be admitted into a prestigious university - a crucial stepping stone for anyone with ambition.