Exam candidates will have to place mobile phones in full view under their desks
Candidates sitting for public examinations will have the time of their trips to the toilet recorded from today as part of a crackdown on mobile phone cheats.
They will also be required to put their mobile phones under their desks so they can be seen by examination supervisors.
The hastily drawn-up measures were announced yesterday in response to claims that some candidates had used mobile phones with Net-surfing capability to cheat during an English language examination last Thursday.
Rumours of the cheating spread quickly through online chat rooms, prompting an online signature campaign by some candidates, who wanted examination authorities to ignore the answers to the part of the paper in question.
The candidates also called on fellow students sitting for public examinations today and tomorrow to wear black as a protest.
Hongkong Examinations and Assessment Authority deputy secretary-general Francis Cheung said yesterday the authority appreciated the candidates' concerns and closer checks would be in place from today.