Though it has admitted the final-year English-language Thanawiya Amma (General Secondary School Certificate) exam was leaked, the Ministry of Education has decided that it will go ahead with marking the examinees' answer papers, merely issuing firm instructions not to allow them to bring their cell phones into the examination halls. The Ministry left this logical decision very late, three days after the start of the final Thanawiya Amma exams that make the whole nation hold its breath every year, as the results decide whether the pupils will go on to university, the dream of most Egyptian families. The cheating that happened via a social networking website was very unfair on those pupils who had studied hard all year long, hoping to get enough marks to be accepted by the university of their dreams. This incident highlights how futile it is for the Ministry of Education to insist on evaluating pupils solely on the strength of the final year exams. It also highlights the wide gap between education officials and the modern technology available to young people, via computers and state-of-the art mobiles, that allow them to communicate with the world and get the information at the drop of a hat. This year's cheating shows that the Thanawiya Amma system, used for selecting university students, should be reconsidered. It is not enough to reduce the Thanawiya Amma to a one-year course from a two-year course, as Parliament has done in a new law. The education system, especially the secondary stage, needs to be radically developed, so that the curricula and the final exams will no longer be based on memorising textbooks. There must be a focus on developing the pupil's ability to solve problems and express his or her opinion on different issues. Besides, the final year exam marks shouldn't be the only yardstick for evaluating pupils wanting to go to university. Every faculty must examine potential students, to evaluate their skills and abilities and decide whether to accept them for the specialisation of their choice.
