Ethiopia cancels university entry exams after Oromo protesters leak paper.

Record ID: 101363

  • Title: Ethiopia cancels university entry exams after Oromo protesters leak paper.
  • Date: 2nd June 2016
  • Summary: ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA (JUNE 01, 2016) (REUTERS) MOGES BEKELE WALKING OUTSIDE BUILDING VARIOUS OF STUDENT, MOGES BEKELE STUDYING (SOUNDBITE) (Amharic) STUDENT, MOGES BEKELE SIMENEH SAYING: "I was shocked when I heard the news. I thought all my effort until this time has crumbled to the ground. I really felt bad. I started wondering what would happen next. When and how are we going to take the next exam? I can't explain my feeling at the time. I don't have words."
  • Embargoed: 17th June 2016 14:26
  • Keywords: Oromo University Entrance Exams Protests Land Government Education Politics
  • Location: ADDIS ABABA, HARAR AND GINCHI, ETHIOPIA/ MINNESOTA, UNITED STATES
  • City: ADDIS ABABA, HARAR AND GINCHI, ETHIOPIA/ MINNESOTA, UNITED STATES
  • Country: Ethiopia
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
  • Reuters ID: LVA0014KK0ZMF
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Seventeen-year-old Moges Bekele studied hard for Ethiopia's university entrance exams but on Monday (May 30) they were cancelled after one of the papers was leaked on social media.
    "I was shocked when I heard the news. I thought, all my effort until this time have crumbled to the ground. I really felt bad. I started wondering what would happen next. When and how are we going to take the next exam? I can't explain how I felt at the time. I have no words," said Bekele.
    Activists fighting for the rights of Ethiopia's Oromo people say they leaked the paper to push for more time so students from Oromia can study because they have been out of school for several months following a police crackdown on demonstrations against plans to requisition land in their region.
    The government wanted to develop farmland around the capital, Addis Ababa, and its plan triggered some of the worst civil unrest for a decade, with rights groups and U.S.-based dissidents saying as many as 200 people may have been killed.
    Officials suggest the figure is far lower but have not given a specific number.
    Human Rights Watch said some schools and universities have remained closed with teachers arrested in a bid to prevent more protests.
    Jawar Mohamed is an activist and one of the directors of US-based Oromia Media Network.
    "Yes the exam was leaked by a consortium of Oromo activists who have been campaigning for Oromo rights under the hashtag Oromo protests. The objective of releasing the exam is because over the last six months there have been protest and disturbance in Oromia. This protest mostly involving Oromo students and consequently schools have been occupied by the military and the students did not attend class properly for the last six months. Therefore, the parents, teachers and intellectuals demanded that the exam time be extended in order to give the students enough time to prepare. The government rejected this offer. After a repeated appeal, the last resort was to leak the exam and force the cancellation of the entire exam," said Mohammed.
    Ethiopia has long been one of the world's poorest nations but has industrialised rapidly in the past decade and now boasts double-digit growth.
    However, reallocating land is a thorny issue for Ethiopians, many of whom are subsistence farmers.
    Authorities scrapped the land scheme in January, but sporadic demonstrations persist throughout the Oromia region, which is the Horn of Africa country's largest in size and population.
    The government says they cancelled the exams because they were not sure how far the testing material had been compromised.
    Nearly 250,000 students were registered to sit for the exam.
    "We have determined the intention of this leak was clearly aimed at disqualifying the exam. It was deliberately done to disrupt. If it was to help a relative, the person could have done it discretely. That is the logic as far as I understand. Other than that I don't have information on whether the government was requested to extend the time or not and how far that has gone in that regard." said Ahmed Siraj, the acting director of communications in the Minister of Education.
    The leak has drawn criticism as well as support in the capital Addis Ababa. Such action is rare in a country where police are feared as heavy-handed and the government is seen as repressive.
    "Basically, it is very wrong and a crime against the public to use schools and the education system as a tool for politics. But after it has already happened and some students have been affected by it, I guess the government should have softened its stand a little bit," said Gezahegn Amare.
    "I feel bad about the damage that has been caused by this. The loss of 280 million birr has an adverse effect on the economy and the budget of the country. A due focus should have been given to it just as things started to develop in the wrong direction," said Getnet Fekadu.
    Ethiopia's government has pumped millions into higher education. Twenty federal universities have been built in the last ten years in line with the country's strategy to boost social and economic development.
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