Collective cheating to be punished with one-year deprivation of exam

CAIRO – 10 June 2018: The exam rooms, in which collective cheating cases are found, will be deprived of the exam for at least one year, according to Head of the General Education Sector and President of the General Secondary Examinations Reda Hegazy.

Hegazy remarked that if it is found that students have matching answers, legal action will be taken against them.

Around 646,000 students started the national high school Thanaweya Amma exams on June 3, applying for the second year of the booklet system that aims to eliminate the risk of exam leaks.

The Education Ministry reported several cheating cases using mobile phones in the Thanaweya Amma exams; in Souhag governorate, a case was reported for a student who posted parts of the economics exam on social media 25 minutes after the exam started.

On June 5, the Internet Police, in coordination with the Ministry of Education, blocked 15 pages on social media which attempted to leak this year's Thanaweya Amma exams.

This came within the framework of the Ministry of Interior's plan to combat various forms of crime.

An Internet Police source told Egypt Today that the Department of Internet Crime and Information Networks has taken serious steps to combat the leak of exam questions and answers by monitoring all these pages.

In the same context, Hegazy warned students from carrying mobile phones during the exams; those who are found carrying their phones during exams, even if turned off, will be exposed to the punishment of fraud.

To secure exams of Sinai students, a protocol was signed with Sinai security department to guard the schools and the transfer of exam papers to committees.

Moreover, buses will be provided to transport the students of the cities of Sheikh Zuwaid and Rafah to Sheikh Zuwaid schools.