Reem Leila reports on the latest development in the case of leaked final examination papers in Minya During recent weeks the press has been filled with reports of the leaking of thanawiya aama, or secondary school certificate, examination papers. The ramifications of the scandal that emerged in the Upper Egyptian governorate of Minya has consumed many column inches. Most recently concern has focussed not only on efforts exerted to arrest the perpetrators but on whether or not students who sat the exams will now be re-examined en masse. Speculation only ended this week when Minister of Education Yosri El-Gamal announced that the latter was logistically impossible. On 26 June Prosecutor-General Mahmoud Abdel-Meguid announced in a press conference that 19 people involved in the case had been referred to the Criminal Court in Minya. They include the head of the committee of Abnaa Al-Thawra (Sons of the Revolution) school in Bani Mazar, Minya, the headmaster of Minya Preparatory School, a police officer, three employees of the ministry of education and a member of Minya local council. They have all been charged with leaking examination papers which, says Reda Abu Serei, assistant to the Ministry of Education, were sold to parents for LE300 a paper. At a press conference convened on 28 June Minister of Education El-Gamal described the leaking of exams as an example of corruption and vowed that anyone involved in the incident would be punished. "Based on the prosecutor-general's technical report, which describes the incident as a partial leak in a limited area, students who benefited from the incident will be punished. Their exams will be cancelled and they will be re-examined either next year or in the second round which will take place in two months. A final decision will be declared as soon as the ministry receives a list of the names of all students involved," said El-Gamal. The report issued by the prosecutor- general after a 14-day investigation says the leaks affect students in four towns, Bandar Al-Minya, Bani Mazar, Abu Qurqas and Matay. The investigation concludes that just 22 students were involved, far less than the 350 that independent newspapers say benefited from prior knowledge of the calculus and trigonometry examination for the first stage of the thanaweya aama, and the English exam for the second stage. They include the daughter of MP Magdi Saadawi and the son of a Shura Council member. The prosecutor-general has sent a detailed report of the incident to both the People's Assembly (PA) and Shura Council, outlining the role played by parliamentary members in helping their children. No request was included to strip the parliamentarians of immunity. MP Omar Sherif, head of the PA's Education Committee, points out that the committee is still studying the report and has yet to take any decision over the matter. The Ministry of Education is still reviewing issues raised by the scandal, including allowing students to sit exams under the invigilation of special committees. Abu Serei says that henceforth exam papers will be delivered to governorate offices which will then be responsible for securing and distributing them. "A supreme committee is to be formed to study the matter ahead of the coming school year. Any mistakes that happen in the future will be the governors' responsibility and not the ministry's." "The ministry will guarantee complete justice to Egypt's 792,859 thanaweya aama students who sat exams this year," maintains Abu Serei. He stressed that the leaking of papers was an isolated incident, restricted to one area, and should not lead people to question the integrity of the entire system. In the 1960s, when final examination papers were leaked to a neighbouring country which then broadcast answers over the radio, president Gamal Abdel-Nasser decided all students should re-sit exams. "History is not repeating itself. What happened in Minya is very different from what happened in the past. The ministry will do everything in its power to ensure there is no repeat," promised Abu Serei. Eight special committees were convened for the sons and daughters of senior officials sitting exams in Minya, including one at Maghagha Hospital which catered for allegedly sick students.
