TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A student who took the national college entrance exam in January was penalized Thursday (Feb. 18) for bringing her pet sugar glider to the exam venue and letting it loose.

On Thursday, members of the Taiwan College Entrance Examination Center (CEEC) held a meeting to discuss misbehavior observed in this year's exam and determined a total of 765 violations by the examinees. Among the violations, 451 were related to students having forgotten to bring their IDs, and 130 were related to them failing to turn off their mobile phones.

The CEEC also observed the first case of an animal interruption at an exam venue since it began administrating college entrance tests in 1994. A pet sugar glider, which had been placed in the temporary storage area, climbed onto the neck of a Taipei Municipal Zhongshan Girls High School student during the English subject test, leading her to scream with terror, according to CEEC Director Chou Chao-min (周兆民).

The tiny possum caused serious disorder in the exam venue and distracted students for nearly five minutes. The owner of the sugar glider left immediately following the incident.

After a long discussion, the CEEC members decided to deduct the pet owner's English grade by three points, with 15 being the maximum score for the subject. Two members also suggested giving a failing grade to the student, but their proposal was not adopted, reported CNA.