The Ministry of Education said Monday that a nationwide survey found one case at a middle school and three at high schools. The findings cover detected incidents reported by schools and do not establish how many cases may have gone unnoticed.
Conducted through official requests to schools from October 27 to November 3, the survey covered all middle and high schools, including specialized, vocational, international and special education institutions.
The country has 5,679 middle and high schools, according to the education statistical yearbook.
All four incidents occurred at regular schools. Seoul accounted for two — one at a middle school and one at a high school — while North Jeolla Province and Jeju each reported one high school case.
Three occurred during first-semester final exams and one during second-semester midterms. In each case, teachers confirmed after the exam that the glasses were AI-equipped devices.
“Supervising teachers know their students well enough to recognize the glasses they usually wear, which made detecting cheating easier than in national examinations,” said Kim Han-seung, the ministry official overseeing curriculum operations.
All four students received zero marks for the affected subject exams under school grading rules.
The ministry said it would strengthen assessment oversight to prevent cheating involving smart glasses and other emerging digital devices.
During the third week of November, it will distribute student educational materials based on the four cases, along with guidance for schools on preventing similar incidents ahead of second-semester final exams.
A joint student assessment committee involving the ministry, regional education offices and the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation will discuss further prevention measures and support for schools.
The ministry had already asked regional education offices on June 16 to tighten oversight against cheating involving smart glasses.
The devices are also prohibited at the College Scholastic Ability Test, known locally as the Suneung, on November 19.
Smart glasses will be included in the list of prohibited items announced at 8:05 a.m. at every test center. Notices warning against bringing them into examination venues will also be displayed.
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