The French language thanaweya amma high school exam was leaked on social media on Thursday, according to a senior official in Egypt's education ministry speaking to Al-Ahram Arabic website. "After checking the exam posted online we found it to be identical to the exam currently being sat by students," he said. The official, who preferred to remain anonymous, added that the Ministry of Education would identify the student who leaked the exam by using the student number written on his exam paper. Students sitting thanaweya amma exams, the results of which determine university destinations and future courses of study, receive an individual code with their exam sheet. This is the second paper to be leaked in this year's exam season, after Saturday's Arabic language exam was posted online. In the past few years, thanaweya amma exams have been posted to Facebook and WhatsApp. A Ministry of Education source told Al-Ahram Arabic website that 12 Facebook pages which “promoted cheating” were closed in the past 24 hours. "These pages treat the exams as a business, with some using the exams to attract subscribers before selling the pages for large sums of money," added the source. Egypt's parliament approved amendments last year to a law toughening the penalties for academic “cheating” and other exam violations, including publishing exam questions and papers and having mobile phones or other wireless devices with them in examination rooms. Penalties for facilitating exam leaks include hefty fines of EGP 100,000-200,000 and jail terms between two and seven years. More than 650,000 students are taking this year's tests.
