A recent survey asked students if they had ever cheated by copying from classmates in examinations or tests, and 20 per cent said they had.
The survey, by the Hong Kong Women's Teachers Association, asked 3,081 students a range of questions on their moral outlook, and on the question of cheating. About 17.8 per cent said they thought it was wrong but had done it, and 2.5 per cent said they thought it was acceptable and had done it.
The response has prompted concerns about the prevalence of cheating, and has made people wonder what the response would have been if the students were asked about other kinds of cheating, apart from copying from classmates.
The answer would have likely been yes, in whatever way possible.
Cheating has been around as long as examinations have. China is home to the world's oldest examination system, and the earliest known cheaters date back to the Tang dynasty.
Rich students bribed examination officers and hired others to sit examinations for them, while those who could not afford it prepared cheat sheets - thin sheets of paper either rolled up and inserted into a hollowed out bamboo writing brush or hidden in an inkstone. Some desperate students wrote notes on their belts, covered the notes in mud and then cleaned the belt when they needed help.
Imperial examinations in ancient China required students to memorise the classics, such as the Confucian Four Books and Five Classics, but getting so much information onto a cheat sheet was impossible, forcing cheaters to be extremely inventive.
