Bras Banned During Exams in North East China

New security checks to prevent cheating mean female students in Jilin Province cannot wear underwire bras during China’s upcoming college entrance exams.
Bras Banned During Exams in North East China
Chinese students arrive for the first day of the Gaokao in Wuhan on June 7, 2012. New security checks to prevent cheating mean female students in Jilin Province cannot wear underwire bras during China’s upcoming college entrance exams. STR/AFP/GettyImages
Updated:

New security regulations in Jilin Province mean that female students cannot wear underwire bras during the national college entrance exam on June 7 and 8.

The “silent admission” guidelines require senior students taking the “gaokao” to go without bras and belts, and wear plastic sandals to avoid triggering the alarm on the metal-detecting equipment. Those with metal fillings or implants will need a doctor’s letter.

Netizens have criticized the security checks as too harsh, and some students are unhappy about being treated like “goods,” according to Beijing News.
 
One examinee told the newspaper: “I feel like we are a group of animals, ready for the market.”

Nearly 10 million students nationwide will compete for less than 7 million places available at colleges and universities.

The new checks are aimed at preventing cheating. More than 4,000 devices have already been seized during an anti-cheating campaign in Jilin.

The pressure to get into college can lead to breakdowns and suicides in the run-up to the exam, and has also encouraged many to resort to cheating.

Research by Jane Lin.