PUTRAJAYA, MALAYSIA - Can the Examination Board be duped by students who pay others to take public examinations for them?

One student from a private school did just that, according to a confession to a local women's magazine, in which a mother related her son, John's (not his real name) experience at having someone else take his Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examination.

He had paid his friend RM200 for each paper that he sat for, she said.

"All the guy had to do was to turn up at the examination centre with John's identity card and sit the paper he had registered for.

"I knew this friend and that he would be able to guarantee good enough results for my son to enrol into college.

"If anyone became suspicious, his friend would just insist that he was the boy in the picture and that he just looked different at 17."

In ensuring that the plan worked, she said her son's friend memorised all his details in case anyone asked.

The friend managed to avoid raising any suspicion as the invigilators failed to see the physical difference between the two boys.

"I reluctantly agreed to be at home to answer the phone in case the authorities called.

"The days of exams passed without trouble and we were glad when the last paper was over.

"Weeks later, my son received his results ... his grades were good enough for entry to a college and even qualified for one of the best courses," she said in the November issue of The Women's Weekly's monthly contributor's page "Share a Secret".

Education Ministry director-general Datuk Alimuddin Mohd Dom, who expressed disbelief that there was such a case, said he would look into the claim.

He said yesterday there was a directive for the Examination Board to be more vigilant when it came to private schools and private candidates.

This is because unlike government schools where teachers and the principals know their students, private students sitting for a paper merely have examination slips.

"When it comes to private students, invigilators would be more watchful and would check their identification against the candidate sitting for the exam.

"Details of these students are checked each time they sit for a paper."

He said there had been no reports of cheating in the past years.