A Cairo prosecution released on Sunday 11 Education Ministry officials out of 12 total who were arrested earlier this month on accusations of disrupting the ministry’s work and leaking thanaweya amma secondary school exams.
The prosecution also ordered the imprisonment of seven other officials working in the ministry’s secret printing press for 15 days pending investigations.
The eleven officials were released after an investigation proved that they were not involved in the case, excluding only one official, who was responsible for printing the exams’ final draft.
The officials’ arrests happened after the Arabic language and religious studies exams were leaked on social media platforms during the first day of thanaweya amma exams, leading the ministry to postpone the religious studies exam to 29 June.
Bashir Hassan, the spokesperson for the Education Ministry, previously commented on the case, confirming that the two exams were leaked from inside the ministry.
Similarly, on Saturday, model answers to the calculus exams circulated on several social media sites as the students were taking the exam.
The Ministry of Education denied reports that the calculus exam was leaked on Sunday and warned parents and students not to trust information circulated on social media networks, according to state-run Akhbar Al-Youm.
Gamal Sheiha, head of parliament’s Education Committee, commented on the leak of the calculus exam, saying: “What happened during the calculus exam was an electronic cheat case as it took place while the students were taking the exam,” according to state-run Al-Ahram newspaper.
He added that no other leaks took place following the Arabic language exam leak; however, students claimed more leak cases occurred for other subjects, including English language and physics.
The leaks were part of a series of leaked exams through the Facebook page ChaoMing.
The ministry denied all student claims that exams were leaked, despite some subjects’ exams and answers reportedly being found published on ChaoMing.
The thanaweya amma exam leaks have put the Ministry of Education under increasing pressure, raising more and more questions about Egypt’s education system, which many are calling to change.
Over 20 people have been arrested on charges of leaking exams on the internet since the start of the exams earlier this month. The arrests came as part of a crackdown on exam fraud.
Members of parliament have held Minister of Education El-Helaly El-Sherbiny directly responsible for the leaks and have called for his resignation.
