More than 300 people have been arrested in the Indian state of Bihar where photographs and video emerged showing widespread cheating in school exams.

The images, first published by the Hindustan Times, showed dozens of men climbing the walls of a test centre, perching on window ledges and handing answers to students inside.

Some of the men folded the answer sheets into paper planes and flew the missiles directly to the cheating students.

Exams held by the Bihar School Examination Board are viewed as make-or-break tests that could transform the lives of millions growing up in poverty.

"Should we shoot them?" asked Prashant Kumar Shahi, Bihar's education minister, who addressed the media after news of the scandal broke.

On top of the arrests, which included police accused of being paid to turn the other way, more than 700 students have been expelled.

More than 1.4 million students, crammed into 1,217 examination centres in Bihar, have been taking the tests this week.

The final exams will be held on Tuesday.

Reuters