Punishing exam cheats on case by case basis

Chinese examinees walk towards an exam site to attend the 2015 China National Civil Service Examination in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province, Nov 30, 2014. [Photo/IC]

A 26-YEAR-OLD, who sat this year's National Postgraduate Entrance Examination in place of someone else, is being prosecuted along with the person who was supposed to take the exam. Similar prosecution cases have been noted after the country included the offense in the Criminal Law in November. Beijing Times lauds such exemplary prosecutions but also calls for due punishments on all parties involved in the cheating:

In the aforementioned case, it is foreseeable that neither the MBA pursuer nor his substitute in this year's National Postgraduate Entrance Examination will face severe penalties if they are convicted, according to the newly approved Amendment IX to the Criminal Law.

Many may therefore wonder whether the likely guilty verdict will generate enough deterrent effects to safeguard justice and the fairness of the national examinations.

In fact, the prosecutions are more about raising people's awareness with a wake-up call, not simply imposing harsh punishments on the lawbreakers.

However, sitting for an examination in exchange for money causes grave harm to the fairness of the national examination system. Therefore, all the parties involved must be seriously dealt with in accordance with the law, in a bid to root out exam cheating for good.

In other words, the penalties should vary from person to person based on their intentions and misdeeds.