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Twelve nursing students were caught cheating during an exam at Barzilai Medical Center using wireless earpieces connected to their mobile phones, which transmitted answers in real time.
The students, all first-year participants in an academic track for professional retraining as registered nurses, were discovered at the end of the test. Following the revelation, they were suspended from their studies.
In a statement, Barzilai Medical Center said, “This morning, during a microbiology exam, 11 female students and one male student from the Bedouin community were caught using technological means to cheat, including wireless earpieces and mobile phones. All of them have been suspended at this stage. Such behavior violates the regulations of Barzilai’s academic nursing school and is inconsistent with the ethics, professionalism, and integrity expected in the nursing profession.”
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A source at the school told Ynet that staff had recently grown suspicious after noticing a sudden improvement in some students’ grades. “There were students who previously had very low scores, and suddenly they were getting 80s and 90s. That raises red flags,” the source said. “We suspect this wasn’t the first time. We had information that they were seen using phones and earpieces in the restrooms. As far as we understand, they were complicit in the act.”
The source added that some of the female students concealed the earpieces under their hijabs, making them difficult to detect. “We had a feeling there would be cheating today, so we prepared in advance with security personnel and a police officer from the hospital’s on-site station in case the situation escalated. We followed protocol and conducted a spot check with their full consent. We were surprised by how many were involved. This is a severe blow to the school.”
According to the source, one student read the exam questions aloud, and someone on the other end of the line whispered the answers back through the earpiece, which also functioned as a microphone. “Once confronted, most of them immediately admitted to it. The matter is being handled with the utmost severity,” the source said.