The Ministry of Education yesterday vowed to crack down on the soaring cheating problem on college entrance exams and is working with provincial authorities to investigate the cheating scam in Songyuan, Jilin province.

"We have jointly kicked off the investigation with police and the discipline inspection department," Zhao Shukuan, the deputy chief of the Jilin provincial enrolling office, told China Daily yesterday.

"It's still too early to say if the educational scam has influenced the fairness of Jilin's college entrance examination this year," he said. "The investigation targets only individual cases."