SEOUL: South Korea will file criminal complaints against students caught cheating in a national university entrance examination using smart glasses and introduce tougher penalties for their use, a government official told AFP on Friday.
Sales of smart glasses, which allow wearers to take photos and videos and interact with AI assistants, among other functions, are growing worldwide.
However, the gadgets are also facing increasing backlash, including concerns about people being filmed without their consent and their use by students to cheat in examinations.
South Korea’s notoriously gruelling university entrance examination, known as the “Suneung”, is essential for admission to top universities and is widely regarded as a gateway to economic security and even a good marriage.
“The ministry will seek criminal charges against students caught cheating with smart glasses” in future, Lee Joon-hyuk, an education ministry official, told AFP.
Under the authorities’ plans, students caught cheating with smart glasses will be barred from retaking the examination for three years, extending the current one-year penalty.
However, the new rules are unlikely to apply to next month’s university entrance examination, Lee said.
“With only about 20 days left until the exam, it would be realistically difficult to amend the law before then. However, we plan to push for the changes to take effect from next year’s exam,” he said.
The move follows incidents in which three students were caught wearing or possessing smart glasses during university-administered essay examinations in Seoul.
The use of such devices is an emerging concern at schools worldwide. This summer, the prestigious National Taiwan University in Taipei reportedly disqualified an entrance examination candidate for cheating with AI-powered smart glasses.
Measures announced by Seoul’s education ministry on Thursday to prevent cheating with smart glasses include assigning a “designated staff member” at each examination centre to identify suspicious eyewear.
With so much at stake, a 35-minute nationwide ban on flights is imposed on the day of the Suneung during the English listening test, except in emergencies. Banks and public offices also instruct their employees to start work an hour later to ease traffic congestion.
The enormous pressure placed on students by South Korea’s ultra-competitive education system has been partly blamed for teenage depression and suicide rates that are among the highest in the world.
