Sulaymaniyah 12th-grade students protest Arabic exam questions

SULAYMANIYAH, Iraq — Twelfth-grade students gathered in front of the Sulaymaniyah Directorate of Education on Monday to protest the Arabic-language questions in the ministry exams, as well as what they described as translation errors in other subjects. Speaking on behalf of the protesters, Sirawe Salar told a press conference that many Arabic exam questions contained faulty and ambiguous wording, while translation questions in other subjects included linguistic and technical mistakes. He said the errors placed students in difficult positions during the exams. The demonstrators demanded that the Arabic exam be made optional, as it had been in previous years, and that the second-semester exam schedule be rearranged so that only one exam is held every three days. Student Saracol Mohammed called for the restoration of points that could be lost due to faulty or out-of-curriculum questions, particularly in Arabic, English and other subjects, saying the mistakes could directly affect grade averages. The protesters said they would continue their action until their demands were met and the exam problems were addressed. No immediate response from the directorate or the education ministry was reported.