SHARE
COPY LINK

CRIME

Cheating scandal forces 28,000 Berlin students to retake exam

Berlin authorities have launched a criminal investigation and are insisting 28,000 10th grade students retake their final mathematics test after discovering it was distributed in as many as 15 schools around the city before the test date.

Cheating scandal forces 28,000 Berlin students to retake exam
Photo: DPA

The 10th grade ‘MSA’ final math took place on Wednesday, but authorities believe someone leaked the test up to two weeks earlier, according to Berlin daily Berliner Morgenpost on Friday.

“It was sold in the school yards,” spokesperson for the education administration Kenneth Frisse told the paper.

An unnamed student told the paper that the test questions were sold for €10 to €15.

Authorities don’t know just how widespread the cheating was, but education senator Jürgen Zöllner believes it was enough to warrant a criminal investigation, the paper reported.

“But probably none of the teachers noticed a thing,” Zöllner said.

Education spokesman Frisse told the paper it’s likely that someone involved in the test’s preparation is the culprit.

Zöllner told Berliner Morgenpost that the first report of the massive cheating scandal came in around 9:55 am on Wednesday, but authorities did not discover the extent of the cheating ring until after the students had taken the test.

Test results have been declared invalid, and a new test date set for June 23, but many students feel it’s unfair they have to go through the stress of final exams twice, especially if they weren’t among the cheaters, the paper reported.

Students plan to protest the second test on Monday in front of the Berlin’s city council building, the Rotes Rathaus.

Frisse has asked anyone with information on the source of the leak to contact police in their ongoing investigation.

CRIME

Aide to German far-right MEP arrested on suspicion of spying for China

An aide to a German far-right politician standing in June's European Union elections has been arrested on suspicion of spying for China, German prosecutors said on Tuesday.

Aide to German far-right MEP arrested on suspicion of spying for China

The man, named only as Jian G., stands accused of sharing information about negotiations at European Parliament with a Chinese intelligence service and of spying on Chinese opposition figures in Germany, federal prosecutors said in a statement.

On the website of the European Parliament, Jian Guo is listed as an accredited assistant to MEP Maximilian Krah, the far-right AfD party’s lead candidate in the forthcoming EU-wide elections.

He is a German national who has reportedly worked as an aide to Krah in Brussels since 2019.

The suspect “is an employee of a Chinese secret service”, prosecutors said.

“In January 2024, the accused repeatedly passed on information about negotiations and decisions in the European Parliament to his intelligence service client.

“He also spied on Chinese opposition members in Germany for the intelligence service.”

The suspect was arrested in the eastern German city of Dresden on Monday and his homes were searched, they added.

The accused lives in both Dresden and Brussels, according to broadcasters ARD, RBB and SWR, who broke the news about the arrest.

The AfD said the allegations were “very disturbing”.

“As we have no further information on the case, we must wait for further investigations by federal prosecutors,” party spokesman Michael Pfalzgraf said in a statement.

The case is likely to fuel concern in the West about aggressive Chinese espionage.

It comes after Germany on Monday arrested three German nationals suspected of spying for China by providing access to secret maritime technology.

READ ALSO: Germany arrests three suspected of spying for China

China’s embassy in Berlin “firmly” rejected the allegations, according to Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua.

According to German media, the two cases are not connected.

In Britain on Monday, two men were charged with handing over “articles, notes, documents or information” to China between 2021 and last year.

Police named the men as Christopher Berry, 32, and Christoper Cash, 29, who previously worked at the UK parliament as a researcher.

SHOW COMMENTS