More than 7,600 students took exams to graduate from junior high school Monday, and cheating appeared to be widespread despite warnings from police and education officials.
Outside Chaktomuk Junior High School and Preah Sisowath High School, students filed out of classrooms during break time and milled about in the courtyards. Relatives of students handed answer sheets to the students through the closed gates.
At Chaktomuk, a military policeman blew his whistle at the parents but was ignored. Other police ignored or even laughed at the cheating. Police had been instructed to close copy shops during the exam period, but a copy shop near the junior high school was still open and several answer sheets were displayed on a table.
Deputy Municipal Security Police Chief Kong Sarann denied Monday that there was cheating on the exam and said that no one had been arrested for cheating.
Department of General Knowledge Chief Chroeng Limsry said 7,654 students took the test in 680 exam rooms throughout the country. He said parents should not buy answer sheets from the copy shops because the sheets are fraudulent, and it is very difficult to learn the test answers before exam day.
But he admitted that some proctors received bribes from students. Those proctors will be punished, he said. Students found cheating will be given a verbal warning, he said; those who ignore the warning will be given a zero grade.
Rong Chun, president of the Cambodian Independent Teachers’ Association, said proctors called him and said school administrators had demanded as much as $150 from parents in return for a guaranteed passing grade for their children.
Students in rural areas typically do not have as much time to study as those in urban areas because they are busy working in the fields, Chroeng Limsry said. That will be accounted for in scoring, he said. The exams will be corrected by hand and results will be announced Aug 30.
