The National Higher Education Entrance Exam, commonly known as ‘gaokao’ or ‘the big test’, is held annually to decide which student qualifies for a place in university. Almost nine million Chinese students appear for gaokao every year. Some students try to cheat or practice unfair means in the exam to improve their chances in the exam ‘gaokao’ – by taking covert photos of the exam questions using special pens equipped with hidden cameras, and send it instantly to someone outside who are waiting to gives the correct answers back through a hidden earpiece. To stop this kind of practice, in the city of Luoyang, in Henan province, which is at the centre of the nation, has started involving drones to monitor radio airwaves activity in the area where the exam takes place. The UAV hovers around 500 metres above the students’ heads or the test site and has a range of 1km and immediately alerts the school staff if unusual activity is detected. The invigilators can control the drones with the help of a simple tablet computer and can easily pinpoint the culprit’s exact geo-location. The culprits caught cheating is barred from attempting any national level exams for three years. So who would like to challenge the modern drone invigilators?
