The Ethiopian Ministry of Education and the Educational Assessment and Examinations Service have released the latest results for the national higher education exit exams, revealing a stark disparity in performance between public and private institutions and a massive crackdown on academic dishonesty.
According to the Ministry, the June 2017 undergraduate exit exams saw a 55.5% pass rate among the nearly 93,000 candidates from public higher education institutions. However, the results for private colleges were significantly lower. Out of 89,036 candidates from private institutions, only 10,904 students—representing just 12.5%—managed to pass. This indicates that over 78,000 students from the private sector failed to meet the graduation threshold.
Regarding the mid-2018 academic year session, the Educational Assessment and Examinations Service reported that 213,675 students sat for the exam out of 236,317 registered. Of those who took the test, only 49,664 students scored 50% or higher. Dr. Eshetu Kebede, the Director General of the Service, noted that these figures were slightly adjusted from previous reports following the resolution of student grievances.
The report also exposed a crisis of academic integrity. Authorities confirmed that the results of 8,645 students were canceled after they were caught attempting to have impersonators take the exam for them. Additionally, 2,074 students were caught using technology to cheat, 817 were caught with unauthorized materials or performing prohibited actions on computers, and 630 were disqualified for attempting to take the exam more than once.
Professor Berhanu Nega, Ethiopia's Minister of Education, voiced serious concern over what he described as "organized cheating." He revealed that some university staff members have been complicit in these schemes, helping students bypass security protocols using student codes.
"We are seeing not just cheating, but organized fraud," Professor Berhanu stated. He emphasized that any teacher or staff member found facilitating such dishonesty would be permanently banned from the education sector. The Minister also confirmed that several individuals involved in these networks have already been arrested as part of an ongoing effort to restore the credibility of the country's higher education system.
Source: Telegram / tikvahethiopia