The government is tightening measures against cheating in civil service examinations, including a nationwide blacklist of offenders and plans to make the General Examination a fully electronic exam within three years.
Deputy government spokeswoman Lalida Persvivatana on Tuesday said the Office of the Civil Service Commission (OCSC) has detected 114 cheating cases in Section Kor exams since 2016, including cases involving people sitting exams on behalf of others.
Gaps in the existing system have allowed offenders to apply for exams at other state agencies.
The OCSC then proposed disciplinary standards, a central blacklist data of people found to have cheated in civil service exams, and short-, medium- and long-term measures to prevent offenders from entering the public sector.
Under the measures, civil servants found to have cheated in exams after being appointed would be deemed to have committed a serious disciplinary offence involving serious misconduct and would face dismissal. If cheating is discovered before appointment, the relevant authority would immediately cancel the appointment.
Personnel management central organisations in each category would be required to make lists of offenders under their laws and submit the information to the OCSC for inclusion in a central database.
All state agencies could then check the database before recruiting applicants.
The OCSC has also designated people who cheated in Section Kor exams as prohibited from entering the civil service and can revoke their certificates of passing the examination.
As of July 22, 24 offenders had been placed on the prohibited list.
She also said the government's plan has three stages.
Within one year, it will establish clearer disciplinary rules and standards. Within three years, it plans to replace the current paper-and-pencil and e-Exam system with e-Exam only, strengthening protections and checks.
Within five years, the government plans to introduce specific law on cheating in civil service exams, with tougher criminal penalties covering everyone involved in an organised cheating operation.
It also plans to amend laws to allow the government to recover salaries and other benefits received by those who cheated before entering the civil service.
"The government wants to close loopholes from the outset and ensure offenders could not move between agencies to seek civil service jobs," she said.
