Exclusion from Baccalaureate exam of candidates with very high marks

Scores of candidates who have barred from the 2013 Baccalaureate exam have pursued their street demonstrations in various parts of the capital Algiers and in some other provinces of the country to demand a brand-new proof-reading of their exam papers for a final confirmation.

In a bid to ease the current tension, the national education managementt bodies concerned have opened their doors to the protestors and pledged to undertake a deep review of the suspicious exam papers notably those dealing with the philosophy topic so as to issue a final ruling on this vexed issue in the next few weeks.

The disgruntled protestors marched from the premises of the national office of exams and contest (ONEC) in upper Telemny district towards the National Education Ministry in the Annassers district in downtown Algiers but were forcefully dispersed by anti-riot police forces who sealed off the area to avert any drift or  damaging confrontation.

Other protest rallies were also staged in other parts of Algiers notably near the Sofia public square and in the vicinity of the Youcef Ben Khedda Central University.

Echorouk has learnt from reliable sources that 435 candidates, who have been excluded from the 2013 Bacalaureate exam because of widespread cheating, have lodged appeals over the past 48 hours.

The same sources said that among those excluded, stood numerous candidates who got very high marks ranging between 15/20 and 17/20 in this year’s end of secondary school exam.