Exams released under tight security

The Rwanda National Examination Council (RNEC) yesterday released O-level and A-level final exams amidst tight security. The boxes containing the exam papers were loaded onto army trucks at RNEC Headquarters under the close supervision of RNEC officials, army officials and the Rwanda National Police. “The exams are being delivered to the respective districts and tomorrow they will be handed over to the particular centres as they prepare for exams on Wednesday,” the RNEC Executive Secretary, John Rutayisire told the New Times yesterday. Reasons for the tight security arise from the fact that school authorities in the past years have been involved in malpractices during the national examinations and this has always affected the results. “This time, the council has come up with measures of ensuring that the exams do not leak and the exercise is done transparently with no malpractices,” Rutayisire added. Last year, the Rwanda National Examinations Council (RNEC) and a city school were embroiled in a squabble amid allegations of examination malpractices. The conflict started when RNEC withheld the 2006 Senior Six results of Ecole des Sciences Sociales et Administratives de Nyarugunga, commonly known as ESSA Nyarugunga, accusing both the school authorities and the students of engaging in examination malpractices. The same year, results for two hundred and thirty Primary Six and Senior Three candidates were cancelled by RNEC and the council warned that stern action would be taken against schools using unethical methods in order to excel in national examinations. Ends