Education Secretary Leonor Briones assures that her department will not tolerate any form of cheating among students after it was reported that Facebook group has been providing students answers to exams.

"The question of cheating is not only a question in education, not only in the exam in education. It is a question for the entire society of the Philippines and the question of cheating in schools is a lingering issue. I’m saying that it is there and we will not tolerate it," said Briones in the ''Laging Handa'' public briefing on Monday.

An alleged online group called ''Online Kopyahan'' is being used by students in online exams, GMA7 reported last week.

The NBI Cybercrime Division said it is looking into this, dzBB reported last Saturday.

"What I am saying is that cheating is a problem in society itself, not just the Philippines. It’s human nature itself. But it doesn't mean that we will tolerate this because it is there. It’s not like Mt. Everest we climb it because it is there. We teach the students that honesty is the best policy," Briones said.

"Perhaps the best teachers of honesty would also be the adults themselves. That's why we are calling on... to kindly moderate or stop their activities because we will not stop at justifying it, at saying it exists," she added.

Briones said the Department of Education (DepEd) coordinated with authorities to address cheating.

"We are now seeking the assistance of the authorities and tracing, because there are questions and we have key for the answered questions, if this was leaked to the students or they cheated, we should investigate this," she said.

"We will take steps and we already are in touch with the appropriate authorities because we will not tolerate it, at least in education," she added. Robina Asido/DMS