Many places in China have upgraded security checks for this week's college entrance examinations, or gaokao, including installing intelligent security systems with facial recognition for the first time, and asking examinees not to wear ornaments made of metal into exam sites, to prevent cheating and guarantee the fairness of the exam.
In order to eliminate possible misconduct during the exam, the Ministry of Public Security launched a campaign in recent days bringing to light cases involving organized cheating and sales of exam recordings and secret photo-grabbing equipment designed to cheat during the exam.
The campaign was launched days before this year's gaokao, which is scheduled to begin on June 7.
Some provinces, including South China's Guangdong and Southwest China's Yunnan, have upgraded their security checks, including installing intelligent security checks for the first time this year, to detect any electronic equipment such as cell phones, earpieces and electronic watches, or other aids that may assist in cheating. The city of Bijie in Southwest China's Guizhou Province even asked participants to submit to three security checks before entering exam sites.
Several cities dropped mask mandates and temperature check for examinees, but still reminded those sitting the exams to monitor their health. Places such as Southwest China's Sichuan and Central China's Hunan issued guidelines saying that examinees will be directed to take tests at back-up sites if they test positive for COVID-19 on the exam dates.
