Education
In the past two years, 23 candidates who took part in exams with the Secondary Education Examination Board have been caught cheating. The young people involved found a way to have their exam taken by someone else, reports Flemish Minister of Education Ben Weyts. Security has now been stepped up.
The Secondary Education Examination Board caught 23 candidates committing fraud in the past two years. The majority of the exams at the Examination Board are taken digitally in the exam center in Brussels. The candidates involved all come from the province of Antwerp and may have passed on the fraud technique to each other.
They registered at the exam center, but then managed to give their individual code to someone outside the walls. That person could then log into the exam software and take the exam for them. Because these exams were taken outside the monitored environment of the exam center, prohibited tools such as the Internet or artificial intelligence could also be used.
During correction, it was noticed that some answers seemed suspicious or did not correspond to previous exams of the same candidates. Digital investigation confirmed the deception. The candidates concerned are not allowed to take exams for two years. The results of the fraudulent exams were canceled. Eight young people who obtained their secondary education diploma with falsified exams must hand in their diploma again. According to Minister Weyts, security has now been stepped up “to stay ahead of fraudsters”. The Examination Board is investigating whether it can file a complaint with the public prosecutor’s office.
Self study
The Secondary Education Examination Board offers an opportunity to young people and adults to obtain a certificate or diploma in secondary education outside the normal school context. In 2022, almost 4,000 people took the exams. The range of specializations is very diverse and ranges from Latin-Mathematics to Commerce. One condition is that the exams can be passed through self-study.
The 2022 annual report shows that most candidates choose the Examination Board because of the speed with which you can obtain a diploma and the freedom that the process offers.
