A senior education official on Thursday dismissed any possibility that college entrance exam papers could be leaked on the Internet by their designers ahead of the June exam period. 

As the annual national college entrance exam draws near, some alleged "real" exam papers have appeared on the Internet with rumors circling that they are the handiwork of China's official exam designers.

Dai Jiagan, director of the Ministry of Education's National Education Examination Authority (NEEA), said that the confidential nature of exam papers is absolute and anyone who steals, discloses or buys these faces up to seven years in prison.

This year's exam papers are in the process of being written by carefully selected professors and teachers from a range of academic institutions, added Dai. For the duration of their work, they are "confined" and have no access to mobile phones or computers. 

Furthermore, once the exams are done, the designers remain under supervision for 30 to 40 more days to ensure confidentiality.

"It is utterly impossible that the exam papers could have emerged on the internet in advance. These so-called exam papers will only mislead students," said Dai, adding that his department also closely supervises the printing, transport and distribution of the papers, ensuring impeccable security.

The National College Entrance Exam represents a veritable rite of passage for Chinese high school students since it represents their only chance to get to university. Its difficulty is well-known with only 2.6 million students qualifying for further education last year from the 9.5 million applicants.

Desperate at the fierce competition, some candidates are resorting to cheating through mobile phones or other gadgets. Some con-artists have been capitalizing on the need for high marks by scamming students through offering them "real" exam papers, a practice denounced frequently by the Ministry of Education.

(Xinhua News Agency April 20, 2007)