Latest news with #examtheft
Arab News
4 days ago
- Arab News
South Korean teacher, mother arrested for stealing exam
SEOUL: A teacher and a parent of a high school student in South Korea have been arrested for breaking into a school to steal exam papers, police told AFP on Wednesday. The country is known for placing extreme emphasis on academic achievement — with its annual college entrance exam forcing airplanes to be grounded during English listening tests. The pair are accused of breaking into a high school in Andong, about 270 kilometers south of the capital Seoul, at around 1:00 a.m. on July 4 to steal exam papers, triggering an alarm and leading to their arrest. 'A 31-year-old teacher and the 48-year-old mother have confessed to the crime,' said a detective at the Andong Police Station, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The teacher was a private tutor for the student while working at the school, where she was employed until February last year, authorities said. Police suspect the pair may have committed similar thefts in the past, helping the student ace academically, and that money was exchanged between the teacher and the mother. 'They tried to steal exam papers across many subjects, not confined to Korean, which the suspect was teaching,' the detective told AFP. A school maintenance worker was also arrested for aiding the late-night breach, investigators said. The student, who had maintained top grades since enrolling in 2023, has been expelled and her grades nullified, according to the Yonhap news agency.
Telegraph
4 days ago
- Telegraph
Mother arrested for ‘breaking into school and stealing exam papers'
The mother of a high-flying student has been arrested alongside a teacher after the pair broke into a school in South Korea to steal an exam paper. Police are investigating after the theft at a girl's school in Andong, a city about 167 miles south of the capital Seoul, in the middle of the night last month. While the teacher had left the school last year, she still knew the security code and her biometric data was still stored in the system, allowing her to scan her fingerprint and enter the premises, it is alleged. The duo then proceeded to the third-floor faculty office where the exam papers are stored, but were stopped when the school's security alarm sounded. They managed to flee, but were arrested the following day. 'A 31-year-old teacher and the 48-year-old mother have confessed to the crime,' a detective at the Andong Police Station confirmed. A facilities manager at the school was also arrested for allegedly allowing the mother and teacher to break in and then later manipulating the security footage. Investigators suspect the mother had been paying the teacher two million won (£1,075) per exam period, for more than two years, totalling about 20 million won (£10,750). The school claimed that the teacher had accessed the premises seven times since she resigned last year, each time during exam season. 'Straight out of a drama' 'It's shocking to think something like this, which feels straight out of a drama, happened in our community,' the mother of another middle-school student at the school told the local media outlet Korea JoongAng Daily. 'There are rumours that the mother did this to get her daughter into medical school,' she added. The teacher and mother first met in 2020 when the teacher taught the mother's eldest daughter. She then also taught the younger daughter at the centre of this scandal in 2023, whom she was also privately tutoring, which is prohibited by Korean law. The student, who was reportedly top in her class, has been expelled following the arrests and has had all her previous test scores invalidated. South Korea is known for placing crippling pressure on students to excel academically and goes to great lengths to maximise this success.
The Independent
4 days ago
- The Independent
South Korea arrests teacher and parent accused of breaking into school to steal exam papers
A high school teacher in her 30s has been detained by South Korean authorities for allegedly conspiring with a student's parent to break into her school and steal final exam papers. Investigators suspect that the teacher may have repeatedly provided exam materials in advance, enabling the student to maintain her top academic standing in her class. A court in Andong ordered the teacher to be held in custody on Tuesday, followed by the mother's detention. Police also intend to question the daughter over possible involvement in disrupting school operations, local reports said. They were reportedly assisted by a school facilities manager, who has also been taken into custody. According to investigators, the teacher and the parent forced their way into the high school in Andong in north Gyeongsang province at around 1.20am local time on 4 July, reportedly with the cooperation of a security guard who turned a blind eye to the break-in. However, the attempt was thwarted when the school's alarm system was triggered, leading to their apprehension. On Tuesday, following a separate court hearing, both the parent and the school facilities manager were formally arrested. The parent, in their 40s, faces charges of trespassing and interfering with school operations, while the staff member has been accused of facilitating the theft and allowing unlawful entry into the premises. The school confirmed that the teacher had entered the premises at least seven times after her resignation in February last year, with most of these visits coinciding with exam periods. The teacher had previously worked at the school until February 2024 and is currently employed at another high school in Gyeonggi province. Police have found evidence of financial transactions between the parent and the teacher, raising further suspicion of a bribery arrangement related to the theft. On Monday, the school recommended the student for expulsion and will nullify all of her past exam results. She had maintained the top position in her class throughout her time at the school. Investigations are ongoing, and authorities are continuing to examine the scope of the case, including the possible involvement of the security guard. Authorities have also confirmed that the teacher was also privately tutoring the student, an act that violates South Korean law barring currently employed schoolteachers from offering paid extracurricular instruction. Authorities have also since reportedly widened the investigation, uncovering signs that other fixed-term teachers may have also received payments or gifts from parents. 'We are investigating the scope of the stolen test content, the timeline of leaks, possible co-conspirators, and whether money changed hands,' a police spokesperson was quoted as saying by local news outlet Kyunghyang Shinmun. The incident has triggered widespread outrage among parents, who are demanding accountability and stricter safeguards to prevent such breaches. 'It's shocking to think something like this, which feels straight out of a drama, happened in our community,' said Kim Su-jeong, the mother of a middle school student. 'There are rumours that the mother did this to get her daughter into medical school,' she was quoted as saying by Korea Joongang Daily.
CNA
4 days ago
- CNA
South Korean teacher and mother arrested for stealing exams
SEOUL: A teacher and a parent of a high school student in South Korea have been arrested for breaking into a school to steal exam papers, police told AFP on Wednesday (Jul 16). The country is known for placing extreme emphasis on academic achievement, with its annual college entrance exam forcing planes to be grounded during English listening tests. The pair are accused of breaking into a high school in Andong, about 270km south of the capital Seoul, at around 1am on Jul 4 to steal exam papers, triggering an alarm and leading to their arrest. "A 31-year-old teacher and the 48-year-old mother have confessed to the crime," said a detective at the Andong Police Station, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The teacher was a private tutor for the student while working at the school, where she was employed until February last year, authorities said. Police suspect the pair may have committed similar thefts in the past, helping the student ace academically, and that money was exchanged between the teacher and the mother. "They tried to steal exam papers across many subjects, not confined to Korean, which the suspect was teaching," the detective told AFP. A school maintenance worker was also arrested for aiding the late-night breach, investigators said. The student, who had maintained top grades since enrolling in 2023, has been expelled and her grades nullified, according to the Yonhap news agency. It is the latest in a series of exam-related scandals in Asia's fourth-largest economy. Nearly 250 public and private school teachers were caught selling mock exam questions to private institutions over six years, earning an average of US$61,000 per person, according to the state audit body in February.
BBC News
4 days ago
- BBC News
South Korea: Teacher and parent arrested for attempted exam paper theft
South Korea has arrested a high school teacher and a student's father who allegedly broke into a school late at night to steal exam attempt took place at 01:20 local time on 4 July (18:20 GMT) at a school in Andong, a city southeast of Seoul, but was foiled when the school's security alarm went off. The teacher is facing charges for accepting bribes and trespassing, while the father has been accused of trespassing. A facilities manager at the school, who allegedly conspired with the duo, has also been arrested for allowing theft and unlawful entry into the school. Authorities say the teacher had privately tutored the child of the arrested father - which teachers actively employed by schools in South Korea are not allowed to student had "consistently maintained top grades", according to public broadcaster KBS, but it is unclear if their academic record is related to previous cases of exam-paper also suspect that money had changed hands between the father and teacher, and that this was not their first intrusion attempt, KBS incident is the latest in a series of exam-related scandals in South Korea, a country notorious for its hyper-competitive education June, police announced they were investigating the leak of answers to a nationwide English exam via an online chatroom. In February, 249 people were detained - dozens of school teachers among them - for selling mock questions for the high-stakes Suneung exam to private academies. And in late 2023, dozens of students sued the government after teachers accidentally cut their test short by 90 Korea consistently ranks among industrialised countries with the highest levels of stress for young people aged 11 to 15.
