Education: “Stringent deterrent measures to ward off cheating during BAC exam”

With just a week to go before the holding of the much-awaited Baccalaureate exams in Algeria set for June 7th, the Minister of National Education, Nouria Benghebrit , hasassured that there will be a mobilization of all the human and material resources to ensure the smooth running of these crucial exams.

The expected success rate for this year’s BAC exam won’t be different from the previous year, the Minister said, but “several reforms are planned for the future editions”. 

She  stated that  “the 10 average mark secured by any candidate during the exam remains a minimum required to access the University” adding that ” the upcoming exam will focus on what has been taught, because what will be evaluated and graded during the decisive examination is related to learning, not to programs”, as she put it.

Heavy penalties for cheaters

For this year, the education Minister said that two main objectives were set by her ministerial Department namely: “Stress management and Fraud prevention. 

She strongly warned against fraud and recalled the severe sanctions applied for years. “The ill-advised candidate will pay an extremely expensive price for cheating”, she hammered. 

“If any fraud is proven, the minutes will be individualized at the level of each classes to pick out the offenders, (…).” It’s better to take the exam another time than to be struck by an exclusion penalty ranging between three and five years for the schooled candidate and ten years for the free candidate, she underscored’.

In order to preclude any new cheating as was reported last year, the examination classes won’t contain no more than 20 candidates each and vigilantes have greatly been reinforced to this effect.

The education minister firmly urged candidates to shun any cheating, while calling on pupils’ parents to contribute to the smooth running of these upcoming exams giving the laureates access to higher University studies.

Furthermore, she did not waver to display her optimism for this year. “I can tell you that 

the first quarter school results  were better compared to last year, so we hope that the success rate for this exam will also be significant, she affirmed”.