Sulaymaniyah vocational high school students protest exam results

SULAYMANIYAH, Iraq — Twelfth-grade students at vocational secondary schools in Sulaymaniyah held a press conference on Sunday to protest the results of this year's general examinations. Speaking in front of the West Sulaymaniyah District Directorate of Education, student representative Sahend Ahmed said the exam papers had not been checked properly and that students did not receive the scores they had expected. Ahmed stated that some answers from Group B students were graded according to a different answer template rather than their own, leading to incorrect results. He added that some questions in certain subjects were flawed but the corresponding points were not awarded to students, and that vocational education students were being neglected compared with their counterparts in the science and social sciences tracks. Another protester, Miran Ahmed, said he had expected to score above 60 in mathematics but received 28, and also failed Arabic despite expecting a grade between 60 and 70, adding that students were not given the benefit of supplementary marks. Karu Abbas, the student representative of the boys' vocational schools, said the results were released too quickly after the exams ended and that vocational education had not received adequate attention. The students said they would continue their protests until their papers are regraded and their rights restored.