Corruption in Indonesia fuelled by cheating culture at schools, critics say

After praying for good grades in their exams, a group of Indonesian high-school students received a surprising text message - come to class 90 minutes early and you'll be given the answers.

But it was not divine intervention. The message was from their teacher, who had been leading the prayer session at the Jakarta school and was offering to sell the information for US$3 to the final year students, aged 17 and 18.

"Their teacher said their fee would go towards renovating a local mosque," said Febri Hendri, the head of public service monitoring with Indonesia Corruption Watch, which uncovered the case after receiving complaints.

It is just one of many examples of cheating at the country's annual school exams, a trend critics say is teaching young people that graft is acceptable in a nation already desperately battling corruption.

Students are finding inventive ways of beating the system, from buying answer books for a small fee on Indonesia's version of eBay to receiving them in paid-for text messages.

They flood Facebook pages and online chat groups to exchange information ahead of the tests, which are taken annually by students in grade six (aged 11 and 12), grade nine (aged 14-15) and grade 12 (aged 17-18).

Local TV this year showed footage of pupils looking at mobile phones under their desks and peeking at others' answers during the exams, which took place last month.