Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile
  3. News

A country is shutting off its entire internet to stop exam cheats

Trevor Mogg
By

Algeria flipped the switch on its internet connection this week in a bid to stop high school students cheating in exams.

The drastic measure follows similar action taken by the education ministry in 2016 when it asked service providers to block access to social media sites after exam paper leaks began appearing on them. But those measures proved ineffective, prompting the ministry to go the whole way this year by shutting down the entire internet during exams.

Recommended Videos

The blackouts started on Wednesday as the first of the year’s high school exams took place. Internet services are being taken offline for several hours around each exam, with the practice set to continue until the final tests take place on Monday.

Related

Showing just how serious it’s taking the issue of exam cheats, the government has also insisted on installing metal detectors at the entrance to exam centers to prevent students from taking in mobile phones, tablets, and other connected gadgets.

And in a bid to deter any leaks taking place at the locations where the exam papers are printed, phone jammers and security cameras have also been set up, the Guardian reported.

Algerie Telecom said that internet services had been cut “in compliance with instructions from the government, aimed at ensuring the high school diploma tests run smoothly.”

Education Minister Nouria Benghabrit told Algerian newspaper Annahar that although the government wasn’t particularly comfortable with having to take such drastic action, “we should not passively stand in front of such a possible leak.”

This isn’t the first time technology has been used to tackle exam cheats. In 2015, for example, the Chinese city of Luoyan flew drones high above exam centers to help single out cheats. The authorities had earlier discovered some students using tiny cameras in spectacles to transmit questions to outside contacts, with the answers then transmitted back to the student via an earpiece. The drones were equipped with gear to detect radio signals, with the precise location of any cheats beamed directly to an exam proctor’s tablet.

As for turning off the internet for special events, Bali recently pulled the plug on mobile internet services for a sacred holiday. The Indonesian island’s first such blackout, which lasted one day, was designed to help people take some time for self-reflection, an important characteristic of the holiday.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Trevor Mogg
Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
Best wireless earbuds for 2023: Sony, Bose, Soundcore, and more
Sony WF-1000XM5in charging case with lid open, held between a finger and thumb.

For millions of people across the country, the two tech items you can pretty much count on finding in most pockets, purses, and backpacks at any give time are a phone and a pair of wireless earbuds. And their uses are vast — they bring in beautiful sound, block out annoying, distracting sound, and let us work, workout, and get from A to B while doing it.

But picking through the jungle of wireless earbuds available has gotten increasingly difficult as the breadth of brands continues to grow and tech-heavy features like active noise cancellation (ANC), transparency mode, hi-res audio capabilities, dust and water resistance ratings, and more challenge what it is we need and want in our earbuds, as well as what we can and are willing to pay for them.

Read more
Does the Google Pixel 8 have wireless charging?
A person holding the Google Pixel 8, showing the back of the phone.

Wireless charging has gained immense popularity recently due to its convenient and cable-free approach to charging electronic devices. As technology advances, many smartphone users wonder whether their devices, such as the Google Pixel 8 and Google Pixel 8 Pro, support wireless charging.

The answer to this question is not surprising.
Does the Pixel 8 have wireless charging?

Read more
This Samsung tablet can be yours for as little as $75 today
The Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 on

There are a lot of great Android tablets to pick from, and Samsung is probably one of the best companies besides Apple when it comes to tablets, so naturally, Samsung tablets tend to be both powerful and popular. That said, the higher-end Galaxy tablets from Samsung can get expensive, and if you need something simple, then the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite is a perfectly fine option. There's even a great deal on it that brings it down to just $75 from $160 with a trade-in, or, if you'd rather not do the trade-in process, you can still get it for $105, which is a respectable $55 discount.

Why you should buy the Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite
The Galaxy Tab A7 lite has an 8.7-inch screen that runs a 1340 x 800 resolution, which is perfectly fine for those who want to use the tablet to stream shows and films. On the other hand, it only runs at 60Hz, so it's not going to be as smooth as the faster 120Hz screens you might see on flagship phones. It's also slim and sturdy, so you'll feel comfortable taking it around with you without having to worry about it being damaged too easily, although we'd still not be too rough with it. That said, you could probably let a kid play with it to keep them entertained while you do something, so it's a versatile option in terms of who can use it.

Read more