Public security stepping up checks to safeguard gaokao

Chinese public security authorities are stepping up offline and online checks to ensure the safety of the upcoming 2021 national college entrance examination, which will be held on June 7 and 8.

About 10.78 million people registered for the exam this year, 70,000 more than last year. There will be 466,000 test rooms in 7,200 examination sites and more than 1.4 million staff members will work for the exam, including 950,000 invigilators, according to the Ministry of Education.

Zhang Zuoliang, deputy director of Public Security Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security, said on Thursday that, before the examination, the police have motivated enough police officers to carry out security checks and clean up around the examination sites, to promptly eliminate all kinds of security risks.

"The public security organs nationwide are also cleaning up the advertisements and other illegal information about the examination, and are well-prepared to deal with all kinds of emergencies and ensure the absolute safety around the examination sites," Zhang said.

Li Tong, deputy head of the Cyber Security Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security, said officers have intensified online inspections, to timely find and remove illegal information including rumors about the examination, cheating organizations, cheating equipment sales and fraud.

Those organizing students to cheat in national examinations, providing test questions and answers in advance, taking the exam as an imposter, and engaged in the sale and use of wireless cheating equipment would be suspected of crimes, Li said, adding that examinees and their parents must be cautious about online information about the examination.

The police have also optimized their services to give priority to students who need to take the examination and apply for identification cards, and improved the efficiency of card production and delivery.

Public security organs have sorted out the list of the examinees who had not applied for the identification card before the examination and have certificates which are about to expire, and would remind the examinees to apply for certificates in time through text messages, Zhang said.

Since May this year, public security organs have issued about 185,000 identification cards for examination candidates, according to the ministry.